Change
by onelildustbunni
Summary: A connection interrupted. But the more we change, everything stays the same. Laura makes a choice that is no choice at all, and Julian can't live with it. But to undo it, he'll need to learn the true meaning of F.U.B.A.R. Starts with the NXM Childhood's End arc, then branches off into original content. Hardcore gore, profanities, and humor because it's Helix.
1. Chapter 1 - Again

CHANGE  
onelildustbunni

* * *

CHAPTER 1  
 _Again_

* * *

Laura watched as her phone sank into the harbor, biting her lip. She had been just existing here, aimlessly, in the place where Debbie and Megan had lived. Counting the days. The months. The years. She had lost her cousin, her friend. She was not dead, but she would never see her again, either. The safehouse circuit would make her disappear. She would not go looking.

She had no will to leave this place. No matter what Logan said.

The school had been a disappointment, when she had gone there the first time. She had not been introduced to the other students. Logan had put her in a room with several older girls. Teachers. They had become acquainted, but they did not really have time for her. She had kept to herself, feeling overwhelmed by all the people, and one night she had quietly slipped away, to go back to the last place she had felt welcome.

And now he was asking her to return.

 _The world just got a whole lot scarier and the kids at this school need you._

He'd also said something about _her_ needing them, and about how she'd never make it on her own. That didn't matter to her. It was those two words. _Need you._ She looked down at the water, her eyebrows drawing together.

Would things actually be different this time, somehow? Would she belong? She remembered the few attempts she had made to introduce herself to the other students. The conversations had stopped as all had turned to stare at her. One boy had told her to "go away, creepy girl." No one had argued. She'd given up after that time.

Her claws slid out, and she drew them lightly across the opposing wrist. The physical pain helped her ease the discomfort she was experiencing.

Even as she cut her skin, she knew her next actions would be to gather her things, and head to the Greyhound station. She had sufficient funds for a flight, but airport security would take issue with her claws. It was easier to go by bus. Besides, she liked watching the scenery pass. The fields, the mountains. The change in the trees, from coniferous to deciduous. The world was interesting to watch.

Three days later.

"Laura?" Logan sounded surprised. "Where are you?"

She looked around the station, twirling the phone cord in her fingers. "Here."

"That's not helpful, kid." He paused. "Wait, caller ID says this is a New York number. You at the station? Or you callin' from the school for some reason?"

"The station." Laura paused. "You said to come."

"Yeah. Good girl." There was a jingling sound. Keys. "Stay put. I'll be there in a few."

"Okay." Laura started to hang up, but Logan was yelling "Wait! Wait!" so she pressed the handset to her ear again.

" _Where_ are you? What station?"

"Central." Laura paused. "Goodbye?"

"See you."

They hung up at the same time. She leaned against the phone booth and closed her eyes.

 _BANG BANG BANG!_

"Hey lady! What you think that is, a spa? Other people have to make calls, you know!"

Laura felt the urge to show him her claws, but the ensuing scene would not be worth it. So she simply slid one claw tip out, sliced the phone cord, then retracted it and walked out. She smiled slightly to herself.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, she caught a familiar scent. As did Logan. He headed towards her, his eyes giving her a once-over under his downward tilted cowboy hat. "Hey, kid."

Laura nodded at him, her eyebrows drawn together.

He reached her and clapped her shoulder with his hand, then threw his arm around her in a half-hug. "Damn. Almost as tall as me. Sure you're my clone?"

She smiled slightly, shifted her bag to her other shoulder. "Are you certain—"

"Yeah, I'm 'certain.' Stop doubting your elders." Logan guided her gently toward the large double-arched doorway of the station. "Things are nuts at the school. Chaos. Kids dyin', getting' hurt. They don't know what to do."

They reached Logan's bike, a black Harley Davidson. He obviously cared for it. It was very shiny.

Laura looked down. "I am no better."

"What you talkin' about? Course you are. You're my clone. And we're the best at what we do." Logan grinned. "We live for F.U.B.A.R."

She didn't return his smile. He sighed and patted the passenger area of the seat. "Get on. And I don't care how fast you heal, put the goddamn helmet on. In the saddlebag there."

* * *

They were at the school before she knew it, and were walking up the front steps. Laura gazed up at the big brick building as it swallowed her once again. Then she closed her eyes, regretting the decision to come here. She would slip away very soon. As soon as possible.

Logan stopped inside the foyer. "Where are those damn other kids at."

Laura's forehead wrinkled. There were many, many students at the school, last time she was here. Were there now so few that they would be gathered in one place? She tuned into her hearing, and looked down the hallway. "I hear them. And a television."

"Den. Figures." Logan shook his head. "When _I_ was a kid…well, I don't remember, but I know I wasn't wastin' my life on TV. Ought to be outside, playin' ball or somethin'."

Laura looked down, her hands sliding into the pockets of her jacket.

Logan squeezed her shoulder. "Come on."

As they approached the room, an argument began breaking out. A girl brushed passed Laura, hugging herself, tears streaming down her face. Her long brown hair swept behind her like a train. She ran down the hallway and up the stairs.

Laura stopped to watch her, eyebrows drawing together.

Logan also stopped. "Probably that little punk, Keller. He makes a lot of people upset. Including me."

She gave him a questioning look.

"Fuckin' nightmare to teach. Went through a _lot_ of whiskey this year." Logan grinned. "Do us all a favor and make his life suck, okay?"

"I…" Laura frowned.

"Don't worry about it." Logan guided her toward the room. The argument was picking up again.

"We're not finished yet, Keller!"

"You just picked the _worst_ time to mess with me, little girl!"

Logan cleared his throat. "Am I interrupting something?"

The room froze, all of the students turning to stare at them, including the two who had been arguing.

Laura froze, too.

"No?" Logan grunted. "Good." He reached up and patted her on the back. "This is Laura. My sister. She's a genetic clone created from my DNA and…you know what?" He glanced at her, then back at the kids. "It doesn't matter. The bottom line is, yes, she has my claws, and _yes,_ she could kill you if she wanted." Pause. "So don't make her want to."

Silence.

He squeezed her shoulder. "Consider yourself introduced."

Laura looked down. She didn't know much about social interactions, but she knew enough that even she realized that a threat was a terrible way to make friends.

Logan cleared his throat as he walked away. "For the record, my money's on Nori."

She shifted her pack on her shoulders and bit her lip. Finally, the eyes started to turn away. The argument was resuming.

"Let it go." Another boy was patting the shoulder of the blue-haired girl, who Laura assumed was called Nori. He had a very serious face, with brown eyes, thick glasses, and dark skin. "He's not worth it."

"Can't I kill him, just a little?" In addition to her bright, choppy blue hair, Nori had brown, almond-shaped eyes, and spoke with a slight accent. Laura suspected she was from Japan. She recognized the pronunciation, and the name.

Laura had not seen either of them before.

The boy she was arguing with smirked. "You wish, gloves." She suspected this was the "little punk" Keller that Logan had mentioned. He seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place him. He had hair dark as hers, bright blue eyes, and symmetrical, even features that seemed like they could be pleasant to look at. But she could also sense a hostile, challenging energy radiating from him, probably from his body language: folded arms, stiff shoulders.

"Come on guys. I've got a better way to blow off steam." Nori's friend brushed past her as he left the room. He was followed by several others.

"I'll see you later, tough guy." Nori hissed.

"Looking forward to it." He was about to say something else, but was cut off by a girl that seemed to be made out of metal. Except for her bright red hair.

"Julian, I love you, but it's time for you to grow up." She sounded disappointed with him.

Laura sniffed. Mercury, it seemed like. A _toxic_ metal. Strange, that she was allowed to walk around. Her eyes turned to the boy named Julian, the only one left in the room.

"What are _you_ looking at, clone?!" he snapped.

She flinched slightly. Finally, she realized that he was the student who had called her a creep. The one that had finally convinced her to leave the school. It was somewhat a relief, to realize that he made others feel unwelcome, too. It wasn't just her.

"This place is falling apart." He sneered at her. "It used to be cool. Then they let in all this trash, like Ashida, and smell girl, and now _you._ I shouldn't bother staying here anymore."

Laura's eyes narrowed. She hated sneering. It reminded her of Rice. She bared her teeth, just slightly.

He stopped, and his heart started beating faster. She could smell adrenaline. He was afraid of her. Good.

"Uh—my name's Julian." He offered his hand.

She didn't take it.

His face darkened. "Fine. Whatever. Thought you might not be a loser, for a second there. I won't bother with you again. Just so you know."

She didn't say anything, and he stormed out, his back held very stiffly.

"Sofia?" he called. "Hey, Sofia! Come back!"

Laura entered the room and slumped down on the couch, rubbing her face in her hands, then holding it. Why had she come?

After a few minutes, she popped her claws and began slicing at her wrist.


	2. Chapter 2 - Enthusiasm

Author's note:

Thanks for the warm welcome back, much appreciated! Glad to see Julian and Laura and the Helix ship are still remembered by a couple people. I'll keep putting my shiny new English degree to good use, then. Some technical notes: I'll be updating this on Sundays and Wednesdays, I've decided. My job is pretty awesome, but I live for the weekend (like who doesn't), so those are the two bummer days of my week and it'll be great to have your reactions to look forward to! I'll try to respond to reviews, so hint hint, leave some. The first 6-7 chapters are NXM based, and then the plot slowly becomes more original (but as you will notice with this chapter, I won't always follow the comic exactly). Also, I've decided to name the chapters. Some of the names will be original (like this one), and some might be song titles/lyrics that I had in mind when I was writing; I draw a lot of inspiration from music. I will be retroactively naming the last chapter (it won't be a song thing though).

* * *

CHAPTER 2

 _Enthusiasm_

* * *

That evening, Laura walked up the hallway, carrying an apple from the kitchen. She was thinking about collecting her backpack and slipping out, in the cover of darkness. Logan probably wouldn't even notice for a while. He seemed very busy. She hadn't seen him again all day. Granted, everyone seemed very busy right now.

She wasn't even sure how to find her way back to her room. She had briefly met her roommate earlier. It had been an awkward interaction. Sooraya had been praying when Cyclops introduced them, pressing herself against the ground and speaking quietly and quickly in a foreign language. But Laura had recognized it as Sunni, and said so—and for a moment, it seemed like they had something in common. Something that might make the situation a little less awkward. Then Laura mentioned that she killed in Afghanistan.

The conversation had ended there. Sooraya had excused herself.

Laura knew it was the mention of killing and violence that disturbed the other students, but what else could she say? It was the truth. She frowned down at her apple. Should she lie?

"Come on, Sofia…just talk to me!" Julian was leaning against a door, in the hallway just ahead. From his frustrated voice and wrinkled forehead, she could tell he was distressed.

Laura froze. She hadn't been paying attention to where she was going, and apparently, she had stumbled into what seemed like an argument. Perhaps a continuation of whatever they had been discussing last night. She remembered that it involved the word 'human,' but was not sure of the context. Perhaps Sofia had been one of the students to lose her powers? But why would that be so distressing?

"You've been avoiding me for days…please just come out. Open the door."

"Julian please…I can't." Sofia sounded a little muffled, but it was clear to Laura that she was crying. Her voice was thick, and she could smell faint traces of salt. "I can't let you in anymore. Just go away!"

Laura paused. Perhaps she had been wrong, and this was a practical problem.

"Look, I know you're hurting, beautiful…" Julian closed his eyes. "I want to help." He sounded like he meant it.

Sofia was silent.

"Please, _let_ me help." He sat down against the door and tilted his head back. "Open the door. Please." He looked very sad. Like he was going to cry, too.

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She felt like she should offer assistance somehow. This was somewhat odd, since he had been rather unpleasant to her earlier, but since she had escaped the facility, she generally did not like to watch people in distress without at least trying to help. She cleared her throat.

He started, looked up at her, and scowled. _"You._ Go away."

"Is it the lock?" she asked.

He paused. "Wha? The lock?"

She hesitated. "I can open the door, if the lock is jammed." Her free hand curled into a fist, ready to pop her claws. The lock would give immediately.

Julian stared at her for a few moments. "Uh…how about _no?_ Jesus."

"I do not understand." She frowned. "You want her to open the door. She said she cannot."

"She has to do it herself!" he hissed. "The hell is wrong with you? You raised in a barn or something?" He paused. "Or a test tube, huh? _Clone?_ "

Laura almost dropped her apple, surprised at the hostile reaction to a simple offer of help. After a moment, she turned around and headed back the way she had come, her forehead wrinkled. These people were strange.

* * *

 _All students report to the Danger Room in ten minutes. This is a training exercise. Come in uniform._

Laura fell out of bed, startled by the voice speaking directly to her mind. She knew it was telepathy, as she had spent time with several during her last visit to the school, but it was still jarring. Especially when she had been in REM sleep. She sat up, stretched, and looked around to see that Sooraya was already heading toward the door, still clothed in her niqab. This seemed like an odd choice of combat garments, which much material to be grabbed, but Laura knew she must be missing information, so she reserved judgement and quickly pulled on the top and pants she'd worn the other day. She had no uniform. She was always ready to fight. After fastening the choker Megan had given her around her neck, she headed toward the door herself, and followed her roommate's slightly floral scent down to the Danger Room.

A few minutes later, she was standing among a large group of students. There were so many that taking them all in at once was impossible. However, she wasn't the only one who seemed confused. There were many whispers asking what was happening. Assemblies like this must not be a regular occurrence.

Emma Frost stood before them, her hands on her hips.

Laura had met the woman a few times before, at the old school. She had seemed a neutral presence then. Impractical. Flippant. Theatrical. Fake, with her bleached blond hair, frost blue lips, and various injections—and implants—but still, neutral. She had not bothered to interact with Laura much, then. Now, she was the headmistress, and her expression was stern. It was clear that she was taking her new responsibilities seriously. Even her clothes were more conservative than before.

Frost cleared her throat.

"Today, _everything_ changes." She pursed her lips. "No more squads. No more field days."

"What?"

Laura glanced at the speaker. A girl, with light blond hair. Mostly unremarkable, except two other girls—identical to herself—stood behind her, with matching expressions of dismay.

They all looked vaguely like Frost. They even smelled like her. Daughters? _Clones?_ Laura's forehead wrinkled.

"You can't be serious." The girl's sister added.

"We won't do it." This was from the third.

Frost ignored them, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on the crowd of students. "You came here to learn to use your powers and find your place in the world. Now we will see what you've learned and where your place is. There are two possibilities. On the battlefield, or on the sidelines. You will decide which." She paused. "The exercise is simple. Every man for himself. Last students standing will train to be X-men…the rest do not." Now she looked at a group standing off to the side. "Wallflower. Blindfold. Nezhno. Ernst. You are excused."

One of those students spoke up: a girl with soft, wavy blond hair. There was a faint trace of foreign scents to her. Pheromones? Laura's eyes narrowed. She could be very, very dangerous. "What, because of my arm? I can still—"

"Leave now." Frost turned back to the main group.

"Wait, Miss Frost…what about Kevin? Did you find him yet?" the metal girl from the other day asked. Laura still did not know her name.

"Jay Guthrie is missing as well." Sooraya's tone was alarmed.

"I could swore I just saw Jay…" a boy standing with them said. He was interesting to look at. Golden skin, and hair. Laura wondered what his powers were. Often, mutations were physical, and were a good predictor, but she could not tell with this case. Something to do with elemental gold, perhaps? _Snff._ Her forehead wrinkled. No, that wasn't it. He smelled like most other males his age, slightly salty, but not in an offensive way.

"Right now, I suggest you focus on the students around you." Frost snapped her fingers and walked out. "Good luck!" she threw over her shoulder, as the doors closed.

Everyone began speaking at once. Laura backed away slightly, overwhelmed. The sound was a roar to her sensitive ears. And she was still trying to digest what Frost had ordered them to do. Fight each other? Why had Frost included _her_ in this? She could slaughter anyonehere. She might do it accidentally. That would not be a good way to introduce herself. She would be shunned again. And although she had no reservations about killing, she knew Logan would not like it if she did it here. She was concerned about not disappointing him. She gazed at the door, then felt like someone was watching her. She looked over her shoulder, to see Julian smirking in her direction.

Then he froze, and looked up, at where Frost was standing. His eyes widened. Then he looked down. "No…" then he cleared his throat and shook his head, looked up again. "No, it's not a problem."

Frost leaned toward a panel on the wall of the observation. "BEGIN!" she ordered, her voice magnified over the loudspeaker.

A big student made of stone slammed his fists down toward Julian's head almost immediately, but before he could make contact, some sort of green energy bubble appeared around the former, humming slightly with a low _vrrrmmmm_ sound. His eyes glowed.

Laura raised her eyebrows. She remembered one of her roommates from her last visit to the school. Rachel Summers. She had done something similar, except her energy shields were pink, not green. Was he a telekinetic? Or something else?

"Not me, you idiot, them!" Julian glared at the boy, who seemed to be his friend. "The Hellions are staying together!"

"Oh…right." The stone boy grimaced. "My bad." Laura recognized him from the other night, in the den. She had not paid much attention to him then, which was odd, but perhaps that was because there was not much to note about him. He was very big, had broad features, and smelled like rock. From his slight accent, she thought he might be from the East Coast, but his voice was so deep and gravelly that she couldn't tell for sure. And that was about it.

"I swear to god, Santo." Julian shook his head. "Go and fight someone squishy. Cessily, you take…" he began issuing orders. The fighting was starting around them. Laura ducked as a fist flew at her head, and her claws popped out with a _snkkt!_ She turned to face her attacker, and saw it was a girl with close-cropped blond hair. Which reminded her, vaguely, of Megan. _Snakt_ —she retracted her claws and darted through two combatants, trying to avoid confrontations. Perhaps she could escape the commotion. Or linger on the sidelines.

And then Julian was barreling toward her. "Hey, _clone!_ Think you can handle me?"

He side-swiped her, and they tumbled to the ground. Laura thought about kicking him in the head and wiggling free, but even that might cause him brain damage. She realized that perhaps it would be easier this way: pretend to be defeated, and remove herself from whatever this contest was. So she allowed herself to be pinned against the floor, his knees on either side of her waist and his hand holding her right wrist down. He raised his fist to punch her, possibly in the face. "Hah! _Knew_ you weren't all that. Going to…" he trailed off, staring at her, then frowned. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Uh…" he shook his head slightly. "I…I just don't usually punch girls in the face." He paused. "Fight back. Come on!"

Before Laura could respond, he looked over his shoulder and threw up a shield, as a big bolt of electricity struck them. "Dammit, Ashida, I'm busy!"

"No you're not!" Nori shouted. "Face me, coward!"

"Grrr!" Julian looked down at Laura. "God damnit! Just—stay here, okay? I'm going to come back and kick your ass."

Her eyebrows drew together. What an odd request.

He took off, hurling green plasma at the electric girl.

Laura rolled up off the floor and streaked across the room, jumping over people and running through a thick cloud of whirling sand to get to the door. Her lungs hurt, but she didn't care. She needed to get out. She was almost there. Then, out of nowhere, a big stone-and-metal thing hit her. Hard. She hadn't heard it coming, among all the loud noises being emitted all around. She went spinning across the floor. And then there was a pull at her stomach. She slid right back to Julian's feet.

He raised his eyebrows. "Going somewhere?"

Laura closed her eyes. He wasn't going to go away. She reached up, pressed her foot slowly against his stomach, and then pushed, sending him stumbling back. It was almost ridiculously easy to catch him off guard. If she had to rank the people she was most likely to kill by accident, he would be at the top of the list. First and foremost.

He let out a wheeze, holding his stomach. Then he grinned. "Hah! I knew it!" And then he charged again. She dodged and brought her elbow crashing down on his back. Again, slowly. He hit the floor with a yelp. She began to run away, but he grabbed her ankle and slammed her to the floor, apparently not having learned his lesson.

"Let go!" She hissed. He was trying to pin her again. She wondered why he wasn't using his powers. Probably due to inexperience with actual combat.

"Nope." He grinned again. "Face it. You can't beat me!"

Laura's nose wrinkled. "I do not _want_ to." She was not sure she had met someone so arrogant before. And irritating. For a moment, she considered actually giving him what he seemed to desire: a trip to the infirmary. But then she would be selected for whatever Frost was planning, and she did not want to be. And there was the very real chance that she might kill him. She wondered how many people would actually be upset.

"Huh?" He looked confused. "But we hate each other—"

And then they were under attack again. The big rock and metal person from earlier was back, stampeding towards them. Julian closed his eyes, then grabbed her wrist and they shot up into the air, out of reach, so that he ran into the wall with a loud _clang!_

Julian gave her a strange look. "So. You're not even _trying_ to win _?_ "

"No." She gazed at him for a moment, her own eyebrows arched. Why could he not seem to absorb this information? It was as if he was convinced winning was a _good_ thing, and that desiring anything else was foolish. Was he really that absorbed in this contest?

Something about the way he said it reminded her of Megan. She was hostile at first. Angry. She hadn't wanted to talk to Laura, and for some reason, that had bothered her. But then she had told her cousin about saving her as a child, and Megan had begun to talk. To warm. She especially remembered the moments they had shared on Fisherman's Wharf, where Megan started to talk to her, _really_ talk, about everything and everything. What she hated at school. What she enjoyed. What they should do. Her voice had grown louder and louder, and her face had been animated, and she'd begun to smile. And Laura had listened, transfixed, amazed to discover something she had previously not known existed. Could exist. _Enthusiasm._

It was the moment she had realized that she wanted to explore the world, and really, truly leave the facility behind. She wanted to feel it herself.

That was it. His eyes were full of it, bright blue now that he wasn't releasing more energy, and his cheeks were flushed slightly. Very suddenly, her own face started feeling hot, and she looked down, confused. What was happening?

"Why?" He asked, apparently not noticing her reaction. Or noticing, and not caring.

He was still holding her wrist, lightly, with his gloved hand. She was acutely aware of this fact. Actually, she had never been so aware that someone was touching her. It was uncomfortable. She was about to twist her arm free to make the sensation stop.

Then the doors on the side of the room opened, and Frost stepped in.

 _ENOUGH!_ She shouted in their minds.

For a moment she surveyed the room. "Mercury. Dust. Hellion. Elixir. Rockslide. And Surge." She paused. "You six will move on to train as New X-men. The rest of you I will address later."

Julian grinned again, seemingly pleased. He set them down and moved to join his friends, giving them a thumbs-up.

"Don't you mean _seven_ , Emma?" Cyclops had also appeared at the door. He was frowning deeply, and his posture was stiff. As if he was displeased about something. He put a hand on Frost's shoulder. "You forgot to include Laura."

The two stared at each other for a moment. Frost's eyes narrowed slightly. Laura realized that they must have previously discussed her. Perhaps even argued. What about? Her forehead wrinkled.

Cyclops turned away. "And we'll discuss this little 'exercise' later."

Frost watched him go, then looked back at her students. She glared at Laura for a long, hard moment. There was no question that she was displeased. Then she looked at the other students again, her face neutral, as if the expression had been wiped away. "There will be an assembly in the auditorium in fifteen minutes. For all the mutant students."

The others began to speak in whispers. The students who had not been selected began to leave, and the ones who had stood in a small cluster in the center, still congratulating each other. Only Nori seemed unhappy, standing in between the gold boy and Sooraya with her arms folded in a defensive manner, her eyebrows drawn together. The rest of the group, except for Julian—who was still beaming—seemed confused and hesitant.

The gold boy's forehead was wrinkled. "Really? How'd _I_ make it? I didn't even do anythi—"

Frost, who was heading toward the doorway, paused and looked over her shoulder, at Julian. "Oh, and by the way, Mr. Keller… _Surge_ will be the new team leader." Her eyebrows were arched, as if daring him to argue.

"WHAT?" both Julian and Nori exclaimed. And then they started glaring at each other.

"Great." The gold boy shook his head. "This is going to be…fun."

"Mandatory fun." The metal girl folded her arms. "Well, not much we can do about it, I guess." She glanced at the gold boy. "I'm Cessily."

He wrinkled his nose. "I _know_ who you are."

"Okay then." Cessily looked over at Laura. "Hey…Laura was it? Why don't you come over here and join us?"

"No!" Julian glared at her, then at Laura. His eyes actually lit up slightly, green. "She's not one of us. I don't care what Mr. Summers said. Frost didn't pick her." His enthusiasm was gone. His body language screamed of hostility. She wondered if he would attack her again.

"Julian, seriously! Stop it." Cessily looked irritated. "We all have to get along. We're teammates now, and…"

Laura stopped listening, creeping towards the door and then out to the hall, her eyebrows drawn together. Her concerns—her fears—had just been confirmed. No one wanted her here, at the school.

Again she wondered: why had Logan insisted she come?


	3. Chapter 3 -  Die Just the Same

Author's note:

Yes every person is the main character in their own story, but this story is focused around Laura and Julian (rather than being a more team-focused story, like "We're in This Together Now"), so I won't be going too far out of my way to develop secondary characters here. This will make more sense later, as the plot hits full stride and leaves the NXM arcs behind. As for Julian being an asshole, we see some of this in the beginning, but the title of the story is a thematic hint. I don't want to say too much else without giving the plot away. He really is interesting to write, and I think that's why I like writing him and Laura so much-they seem completely different at first glance, but actually they are very similar. Both are loyal, would sacrifice themselves for their friends, and had uncomfortable backgrounds (yeah, Laura's is way more fucked up, but Julian's is kind of twisted too-don't think his parents cared about him). And, most importantly, neither of them deals with feelings very well. Laura lashes out at herself, cutting, and Julian lashes out at everyone else.

Also, PS: I like writing Santo cause he just cracks me the hell up. He reminds me of Kevin on the Office. Or Andy on Parks and Rec. I like happy-go-lucky people!

Technical note: If you sign in to leave reviews, I'll answer them by PM :)

* * *

CHAPTER 3

 _Die Just the Same_

* * *

"Hey, Laura."

Laura looked up from the bed, at the sound of Logan's voice. He was at the door, watching her with a concerned face. "Why you all cooped up in your room?"

She closed her eyes. "I don't belong here."

"None of feel like we do." He shrugged. "Specially not me. But they need me. And I need them, as much as I hate to admit it. That's all belonging _is._ "

Laura shook her head. "I do not need them. They do not need me." She paused. "Or want me."

"Don't be ridiculous." Logan folded his arms. "First of all, they _do_ need you. The school gets attacked…they're all gonna run screamin'. What they gonna do without you?"

"I…" Her forehead wrinkled. "And what if the attack is _because_ of me?"

"The attack will come, one way or another." He paused. "We're weak. They know it. _They_ bein' all our many enemies." He frowned. "I just hope we're ready. We need every man and woman right now…includin' you." He paused. "And second of all…they don't even know what they want. Trust me. They'll let you in. You just got to keep tryin'."

She hesitated. "Fine. But I am going to stay here."

Logan raised his eyebrows. "How are you gonna protect them from your bed?"

She closed her eyes. "I…"

"Come on. The others are sayin' goodbyes. The people who lost their powers are goin' home." He shifted, unfolding his arms. "You should be there. Remind them that there's always someone joinin', too."

Laura looked at him, this man who had every right to hate and shun her, but didn't. Instead, he seemed to actually care about her well-being. She sighed. "Okay."

"Thatta girl." Logan grinned.

* * *

Laura leaned against the fence, watching from a slight distance as people embraced, in front of the buses, saying their goodbyes. She knew that felt unpleasant enough, so she waited quietly. The air smelled of tears. She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek against her arm, thinking of Megan again. The way her chin had trembled, when she realized Laura wasn't coming with them as they fled across the border. And then the awful moments that followed, after they had gone, and she had stood in the rain, watching the border, while life just continued without them. Like everything was okay. Like nothing had happened.

And nothing happened afterward, either. Nothing of consequence. For a long time. Laura returned to San Francisco and stayed in an alley near where their house had been. She watered some of the outdoor plants that had survived the explosion. She watched as the police came. Then the developers. They cleaned the land, then put it for sale. A new house was built. A family moved in, happy, never knowing what had happened there. She heard the realtor say "gas leak." Which was technically true. Except it hadn't been an accident. It had been intentional, her fist smashing through a light bulb, her claws through a pipe. Her fingers on an electrical cord.

And then there was Sarah. She was always in the back of her mind, waiting to bleed through. A goodbye that continued forever. A thing she would never be able to completely accept. Even though she had held her bloody remains in her arms, sitting until the snow had turned to pale red slosh beneath her knees. Until Kimura came, and she had to leave. Because Sarah would want her to. It was all she wanted.

She wondered what had happened to her body. Had anyone bothered to take it away? Or did they leave her there, in the snow? Laura wasn't sure which was better. Or worse. Her forehead wrinkled, and she shook her head slightly. There was no use in thinking of it. She needed to focus on _now._

"Laura, are you alright?" Sooraya's voice.

Laura quickly wiped her eyes on her arm and looked up. The other girl was standing in front of her, big brown eyes full of concern.

"Yes." She straightened. "Are we returning to the school now?"

"I think so." Sooraya hesitated. "It was good of you to come."

"Oh." Laura could think of nothing else to say.

The other girl looked down. "It is hard to say goodbye. But it is harder to not get to say goodbye. To…wonder."

Laura looked up, her eyebrows drawing together. "Yes."

The girls stood in silence, both frowning. Sooraya inhaled, presumably to say something else, but Julian interrupted her.

"HEY!" he shouted, walking toward them. "You. Clone. Did you see Sofia?"

Laura's eyes slipped past her roommate. Momentarily. Then she looked down.

Sooraya turned around, her eyes narrowing. "Julian. Do not call her that." Her voice was sharp. "Her name is Laura."

He paused, frowning, then looked at Laura. "Fine. Whatever. _Laura_. You see her? Or can you do your weird smell-thing to track her down for me? I need to talk to her."

Sooraya saved her the trouble of responding. "She is not here, Julian. Her butler arrived, several days ago. She left then."

He stared at her, his eyes widening. "What?" His voice was softer.

"I am sorry." Sooraya frowned.

Laura glanced at her roommate. "I—" she began, following her example, but she never finished the sentence, because that was when the explosion happened. The concussive force was strong, sending them all flying into the ditch behind the fence. She tasted earth. And ashes.

Laura was the first to regain her faculties. Her ears were ringing. Her tympanic membranes must have ruptured, but that wouldn't take long to heal. She began to check on the others, who would _not_ heal.

Sooraya was beginning to stir as well. "What—what happened?" Her voice was clear.

Consciousness was a good sign.

"Be still until you are sure your spine is not damaged. Test your limbs." Laura crawled over to Julian, who was still out cold. She couldn't hear his pulse with the ear damage, so she pressed two fingers against his carotid artery and held them there, counting. His heart rate was slow, but she could feel it increasing steadily, then his eyes opened. "…wha?" he asked, in a very confused and disoriented way. He had a large cut on his eyebrow. But he was alive.

"Sooraya. Keep him still." Laura scrambled to her feet and began running towards the blast zone.

* * *

She didn't attend the mass funeral, choosing to sit on her bed instead. She did not think she should be present, not when she was partially responsible. She should have checked the buses for explosives. She should have known better. She was trained in this field. She had done things like it many times herself. How had she not thought to check? Logan had asked her to protect the others. She had failed.

The fuses had been connected to the starting motors, and the packages under the bus. Everyone on board had died, despite attempts to help the few who hadn't passed instantly. One student died under her hands, while she was administering CPR. He had large chest wounds. She had thought efforts to save him might be futile, but there had been a narrow chance. As she heard his heart go silent, she had given up and gazed at the boy in a tired fashion, then reached up to wipe the blood off her mouth. There was always so much blood.

She heard Sooraya down the hallway, returning to the room they shared, and she slipped off the bed. She didn't want to see anyone right now. Opening the window, she climbed out, anchoring herself to the brick siding with her claws. Then she dropped to the ground and ran to the nearby tree cluster, her chin trembling and her claws itching. She had never failed an order so completely. So terribly.

She stayed outside until darkness fell, sliding her claws through her skin, over and over again. Just like she brought pain and death, over and over again. This time, through incompetence. _What they gonna do without you?_ Logan had asked.

The answer was die just the same. Her being here made no difference. None at all.

"Laura?" someone was calling. The metal girl. She was heading toward the trees.

Laura considered running away, but she knew she should allow the confrontation. Even if the other girl was angry. So she withdrew her claws, leaned down and wiped her wrist on a nearby bush, then turned.

Cessily was clothed in a black dress, her red hair twisted into a bun at the nape of her neck. She looked tired. "We looked for you at the funeral. Were you out here the whole time?"

"No, I was in my room." Laura paused. "Why?"

Cessily looked surprised. "Why wouldn't we? You're one of us, aren't you?"

Laura shook her head. "No, I am not."

"Oh." The metal girl frowned. "Laura…you are. Trust me. Me and Sooraya are worried about you. You just disappeared and—"

"I should not be here." Laura looked down.

"What—of course you should!" Cessily's tone was hurt. "You're the only one who actually _did_ something. Well, aside from the teachers, of course." She paused. "You _are_ one of us. Some of us might be a little…stand-offish sometimes…but trust me, it's not _you_. We're all just going through a really hard time right now. Things weren't always like this."

Laura said nothing.

"Why don't you come inside?" The other girl patted her shoulder. "I think we could all use your company right now. And maybe you could tell us a little about yourself. We'd all like to get to know you better." Cessily smiled slightly. "You're such a mystery."

Laura shook her head, firmly. "I do not want to talk about myself."

For a moment, both girls were silent. Cessily shrugged. "That's okay. We can talk about other stuff, too. Just…come on, okay?"

"I…" Laura looked down. "Okay."

Cessily took her arm, and they walked back to the school together.

* * *

Laura sat on the couch in the den, with Cessily and Sooraya on either side. Santo was seated in the love seat on the side, hunched over, his big stone hands hanging between his knees. His broad features were twisted in a frown.

"I can't believe Brian is just…gone." He looked up at Cessily, the big rock ledge that constituted his eyebrows curved slightly, like a w. "I mean, he was just always the one trying to keep us together, y'know? Like last summer. We all got to make wishes…and he just wished that he could always be our friend."

"Yeah. My wish was _so selfish_ in comparison." Cessily looked down, as did Sooraya. "I just…I wished to get my parents back. I wanted them to love me again…to be accepted." She gritted her teeth. "I could have wished for literally anything else. Like, something that would actually _help_ people. Government sanctions. Stuff for the school."

"I am no better." Sooraya closed her eyes. "I wished for my mother to be found. Alive."

"Hey, at least your wishes involved other people." Santo paused. "I wished to be a pro wrestling champ. Looking back…not something I'm proud of." He grinned slightly. "Even though that was a total blast."

Cessily glanced beside her, to the new girl, who was studying her hands. "If someone granted you a wish, Laura, what would you wish for?"

Laura was confused. "'Wish'?"

Cessily paused. "Uh, like if someone offered to make something you want happen…anything at all…what would you ask for?"

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "No more trigger scent."

"The hell is trigger scent?" Santo's eyebrow-shelf was raised now.

She hesitated. "It—"

There was a loud _BOOM!_ and the room shook slightly.

"What the hell was that?" Cessily asked, her eyes wide.

Laura tilted her head, listening. "Julian is shouting. He is…a few floors above us, in the dormitories."

Cessily traded glances with Sooraya. "Probably Sofia-related."

"Always is." Santo's voice was flat. "Don't get why he's so wrapped up in all that shit. Not really important, y'know?"

Cessily frowned. "Maybe that's the point."

Sooraya looked at Laura. "You said you have been to Afghanistan." She deliberately left out her activities. "Where else have you been?"

For a moment, Laura did not know what to say. "Many places."

"Like?" Cessily encouraged.

Laura hesitated. "Every country except Antarctica, Greenland, and New Zealand. Most I have seen several times."

"What?" Santo stared at her. "So, like, you've been to Egypt?"

She nodded.

"France?" Cessily asked.

"Yes."

"Have you been to India?" Sooraya asked. "I visited Mumbai. When the X-men rescued me, they took me to their headquarters in the city."

Laura closed her eyes. "Yes."

"Whoa." Santo rubbed his chin. "Are cows really sacred there?"

"Yes." This time, both Laura and Sooraya spoke.

"I dunno if I could do that." He frowned. "Burgers are kinda sacred to me, too."

Cessily rolled her eyes. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you'd never been outside the US, you dumb pile of rocks."

Laura smiled, very slightly.

The conversation continued. For once.


	4. Chapter 4 - I Smell Death

Author's note: This was the Toby of Wednesdays, for all you fellow Office fans out there. Thanks for all the great reviews, please keep 'em coming, I need a pick-me-up right now. I answer the question about what I think of current Laura & Julian arcs in the comics with a PM, but just in case others are curious: I am not reading the comics anymore, I'm not going to give Marvel money to depress me. Some kind people have updated me on recent events and I can sum up my reaction in one word: barf. That's all I have to say about that! In response to story reviews, Logan did briefly appear, but I've decided to stick kind of close to canon with this and not have him be all that involved. I think Logan saw too much of himself in Laura to be a proper father figure. Also, he was in like 20 comics simultaneously, so he was really busy. I love the word Santoism, haha. It actually inspired me to insert 100% more Santo into future chapters, because he rocks. Ohhhh that was bad. Hope you all continue to enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 4

 _I Smell Death_

* * *

After spending the rest of the evening with the other students, listening to them talk about their friends and occasionally offering a small contribution when asked, Laura was finally in bed, her head pressing into her pillow. Sleeping in beds was something she enjoyed, after her life in the small, hot cell in the facility. She was used to the concept now, but she would never take it for granted. Her eyes were just beginning to slide shut when she heard it.

"…X-23?"

She sat up, her eyebrows drawing together. The voice was familiar. She looked over at Sooraya, who was already asleep, then at the door.

There was a dragging sound. In the hallway.

Finally, she pushed her covers away and moved toward the door, trying to be quiet. If the facility was somehow involved, she did not want the other students to be in the way. She opened the door softly and stepped into the hallway, looking one way, and then another. Nothing. Her forehead wrinkled.

"X-23…" A soft, familiar voice.

Laura whirled around, her face turning pale. Sarah was crawling toward her, leaving bloody snow in her wake. Her fingers were clawing the carpet. Her face was decomposing. On her back were bloody tear marks in her parka, where her claws had sliced right through her torso and the fabric surrounding it.

How could her mother be _here?_ She was dead. Absolutely dead. Her hands began to shake at her sides. She swallowed. Should she run? No. She must confront this.

Sarah breathed in, a wheezy sound. "X-23…why…why did you kill me?"

Laura paused. "You are not my mother." She looked around the hallway, sniffing the air. "Yes…I am…" the image of Sarah reached out toward her. "You killed me."

"Yes, but Sarah did not call me X-23." Laura paused. "You are a trick."

Sarah touched her bare ankle. Her fingers were cold. And real.

Laura began to run as fast as she could, her heart pounding in her chest. She shoved someone out of her way in the stairwell and barreled to the front door. And slammed it behind herself, as hard as she could, shaking all over. Then the cold night air pricked at her mostly-exposed skin, and she began to regain some of her senses. She sat down on the front steps, shivering and trying to understand what had happened. Had that really been Sarah? No, how could it have been? Then what happened? Was it a dream? Or—could it be Frost? She felt a hot wet spot on her knee, and she realized tears were rolling down her cheeks. She gritted her teeth and wiped angrily at her cheeks, but it wasn't stopping.

The door behind her opened. "Uh…Laura, right? You okay there?" Julian's voice.

Laura stiffened, but didn't look at him. She nodded slightly. Hopefully he would accept this and just leave. She needed to think about what had just happened.

"You looked really spooked." He paused. "Something wrong?"

She shook her head slightly, trying to remain quiet, but a sniffle gave her away. She heard the door opening wider, and he stepped out.

"What happened?" he insisted.

She closed her eyes. "Nothing." Her voice was very quiet.

"Okay, whatever." Julian's voice rose slightly in volume. "Just whatever. Be like everyone else. It's _fine._ "

Laura glanced up at him, her eyebrows drawn together.

His hands were balled into fists at his sides, and he was glaring at her. After a moment, his features relaxed—and he sat down beside her on the step. "I just—no one tells me anything these days." The edge was gone from his tone, and he sounded tired. "It's frustrating."

Laura looked down again, at the stair beneath her feet.

Julian cleared his throat. "Thanks for helping out. The other day. When…you know. For trying to save them." He paused. "Cessily told me you're pretty cool. Something about travelling a lot, right?"

She said nothing, just gave him a sidelong glance.

He was staring at her. "Why are you so quiet? I'm talking to you, weird clone-girl. Even if I _try_ to be nice, you just don't—"

Laura's eyes slipped past him and into the distance. She sniffed slightly, then made a fist. _Snkkt!_

Julian flinched. "What the—put those away!"

Laura rose to her feet. "Stay here."

She began to walk across the lawn, silently, her bare feet sinking into the grass. She gazed into the darkness ahead, her eyebrows drawing together. There was a strange scent, somewhere in the bushes. An intruder? She recognized everyone at the school already.

Ahead, two figures were standing in the darkness. Elixir, and the girl with the arm that was wrapped in bandages. And smelled dead. She was waving a finger from the other hand in his face. "Josh—just—don't. I've accepted it, okay? You can't do anything about it. We already tried."

"I can't just give up!" Elixir sounded distressed. "I have to keep trying! I _have_ to! I…I _love_ you, Laurie."

"What?" the other girl sounded surprised.

Julian grabbed Laura's wrist. "What are you _doing?!_ " he hissed.

Laura held a finger to her lips, and shook her hand free. His forehead wrinkled as she stepped into the bushes and disappeared.

A few moments passed.

 _SHLUNK!_

A man suddenly fell out of the hedge and tumbled to the ground, a dark streak arcing behind him. Blood. Laura stepped out a moment later. Holding a rifle.

"What the—" Julian took a step back.

"Assassin." Laura retracted her claws. _Snakt!_ "He was going to shoot one of them."

"Oh my god." His forehead wrinkled. "How—how did you know he was there?"

"I smelled him." She paused. "He smells like death."

He shook his head slowly, then looked at the man. And noticed the blood. "Wait a minute—is he _dead?_ Laura, did you just _kill_ him?!" Julian sounded very upset.

"Yes." Laura opened the barrel of the rifle, and began to shake out the bullets. Elixir and Laurie were still speaking far away on the lawn, unaware of what had just transpired.

"What if he wasn't going to shoot anyone?" Julian sounded upset.

"He was." Laura held up the gun. "This is a sniper rifle. With a silencer. It was loaded, and he was aiming for Elixir." She paused, then held it out to him.

"Uhh—no." Julian looked confused. "Laura…we don't kill people here. We're X-men."

She said nothing, closing the barrel of the rifle with a _snap!_

"We need to tell Ms. Frost. And Mr. Summers." He paused. "This is _really_ scary. Do you think—was it the same people who—who blew up the buses?"

Laura arched her eyebrows at him. "Yes."

He was silent for a moment. "I'll go get them."

"Okay." She waited until he had left, then slipped away, leaving the rifle on top of the man's body. She had no desire to see Frost right now.

* * *

The following night found Laura in the danger room. She had been practicing her basic moves lately, mirroring the Weapon X scenario, as she had in the facility. It had required some customization of the program, but figuring it out had served as a distraction. The coding had not been difficult to figure out.

Frost had not been pleased by her actions of the other night, when she had executed the sniper. She had argued with Cyclops and Logan in front of her, trying to have her removed from the school. Laura had watched this silently, her eyes fixed on the headmistress's movements. She felt certain that Frost had been behind the brief appearance of Sarah.

Last night, Sooraya's friend Jay had visited her, after a long absence. He was unremarkable looking, with sandy blond, almost brown hair, and warm brown eyes, like her roommate's. But he seemed uneasy to see Laura. And he had smelled odd.

Sooraya, however, had been very pleased to see him, her pulse quickening slightly. She had turned to introduce Laura, but he'd asked if they could be alone.

As Laura left the room, she sniffed him closely, and found the same death-scent on him as the sniper. She had felt uneasy, and so she had listened in to the conversation. As she suspected, Jay had requested her roommate to leave the school. _Another attack._

Logan had been right.

When Jay left, Sooraya had been holding a crumpled note, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion. And concern. She had gone to bed early, probably planning to visit him in the morning. But Laura was not about to let that happen.

After Sooraya had closed her eyes, Laura had gotten to work. She had taken the note from her roommate's night table, and her spare niqab from the closet, then opened the window and dropped down to the ground, the bundle held tightly in her arms. Walking to the bus stop had taken a while, but she did not mind. The peace and quiet was refreshing.

When she had arrived at the address listed, it had turned out to be a church. She hadn't been surprised to find a massive ambush lying in wait. Clearing the room had taken only minutes, but she was disturbed that she had not managed to kill _everyone_. She had detected a strange, electrical scent, and watched as something large and pink disappeared into the sky. But trailing it had beyond her capabilities, so she returned to the school, taking only a momentary pause to wash off the blood in a gas station bathroom. It was very late when she crept back into her bed and pressed her face against the pillow. Almost dawn.

She found she was too energized to sleep, so she had wandered down here to burn off excess energy, and practice with her custom program.

She was in the middle of slitting the bear's throat with her foot claw when the scenario froze. She looked up and saw that Julian was standing in the control room, dressed in his uniform, his arms folded as he looked down at her. "We need to talk." His voice echoed over the loudspeaker.

She sat up, her forehead wrinkling.

He entered through the side door about a minute later. His expression was serious. "Hi."

Laura paused. "Hi."

He cleared his throat. "About the other night."

She thought back. "The sniper."

Julian nodded. He hesitated, giving her a wary look. "I need to know more about you. Why you can just…kill a person. Just like that. Do you even feel _bad_ about it?"

Laura looked down. "I do not want to talk about this."

"Well, _I_ do." He crouched down beside her, so they were at eye level again. "You're around my friends. And me. I have a right to know if you're…dangerous."

Laura gazed at him for a moment. "Yes."

He hesitated. "So…do you feel bad? About killing him?"

Laura shook her head, very slightly. "No."

His eyebrows drew together. "Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"I do not want—"

"—to talk about this. Yeah, I know. It's like, your catchphrase or something." He paused. "Why didn't you fight back, during the exercise? Why are you even _here?_ "

She paused. "Because you need me."

Julian stared at her, his forehead wrinkling. "What, specifically me?"

"The school." Her eyes slipped past him to the door. She thought she had heard something. A faint noise. Like a gunshot. But she wasn't sure.

"Oh." He hesitated. "Look, I'm just worried about keeping us all safe. You're…I've never met anyone like you before. I know Wolverine and some of the other teachers have done some pretty dark stuff…but I trust them, you know?"

Laura watched the door. There were no further sounds. Perhaps she had imagined it.

"Are you even listening to me?" He was beginning to sound frustrated.

"Yes." She looked back at him.

He was glaring at her. "What did I say, then?"

"You are worried about keeping yourself and your friends safe. You have not met anyone like me before. You know Wolverine and the teachers have done some 'dark stuff,' but you trust them."

"Uhh—" Julian thought back. "Yeah, guess you were listening. So—do you get where I'm coming from?"

"Yes." Laura paused. "You do not trust me."

"That's not…" Julian closed his eyes. "I want to know that I _can_ trust you. Not to hurt me, or my friends. That's all. You won't hurt us, right?"

There was another muffled _bang!_ in the distance.

"I may." Laura rose to her feet and walked toward the door, making fists. _Snkkt!_

"What the— _wait!_ " Julian was suddenly beside her, trying to block her path. "You're just going to tell me that and walk off?"

"Yes." Laura paused. "We are under attack. I can hear gunshots."

He stared at her. "Wait, what? Gunshots?"

"Yes. Move." She pushed him aside. "I will help the others. Stay here." She pressed the door panel, and the door opened.

He watched her go for a moment, then followed, his forehead wrinkled.

* * *

Laura could hear them in the main hallway ahead. And smell them. _Death._ There was eight, no, ten. Walking silently, coming from the stairs. She dropped into a crouch, her claws at the ready. A few moments passed, and then…then she pounced, her claws sliding through flesh as easily as a hot knife through butter.

"AHHHHGH!" someone screamed.

 _BUDDABUDDABUDDABUDDA—_ machine gun fire. Multiple guns. She gritted her teeth and began to run, up the wall, and then she was flying through the air, scissor-kicking and sweeping her arms in every which direction. She reached the other end of the corridor at the same instant as the bodies she had sliced began to fall apart, hitting the floor. _Thump thump thump thump thump thump._ Then she stood up, her claws dripping.

"Holy _fuck!_ " Julian exclaimed, grabbing her arm and spinning her around. "Laura! You got shot! Are you—"

She, tensed her abdomen, and the bullets squeezed out of her body, onto the carpet. _Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink!_ Along with more blood.

He looked down, his eyebrows drawing together. Then he looked at the red-splattered hallway, which he apparently hadn't noticed before. He turned pale. "What the—"

"Go back to the Danger Room." She gave him a firm look. "You will be safe there."

"Are you insane?! I'm not going to sit and watch while this goes on!" he snapped. "But you can't just—"

Laura shoved him out of the way just in time to catch the next wave of bullets with her torso. _BUDDABUDDABUDDABUDDA—_

"God damnit!" Julian tried to shield her, but the bullets were just flying through like it wasn't even there. Then he shrugged and charged the attacker, just as she was about to pounce, and pinned him against the wall, ramming his fist into his face. "Laura—stop!" he shouted over his shoulder. "You can't kill them!"

She was already running towards the main foyer, where she could hear a man mumbling a prayer under his breath as he clicked the safety off of his firearm. Which was pointed at Nori. Who was lying on the floor, surrounded by a faint outline of electricity, her eyes beginning to roll up in her head. He aimed his pistol at her, and his finger began to squeeze the trigger.

Laura took a running leap, flipped, and landed on his shoulders, simultaneously plunging her claw deep into the back of his skull. Into the center of the circular metal device. Her knuckles brushed his scalp.

Cessily and Sooraya gasped, at the same time.

" _Hey!_ " Nori scrambled toward her, reaching out, apparently having recovered from her fainting spell. She looked revolted.

Julian skidded into the main foyer. "Did she kill anyone else—"

"N-no." Frost sat up, from where she lay on the floor, a large blade sticking out of her shoulder. "Be quiet. Let her."

"They all have this." Laura focused on the metal device. "So did Icarus. It smells like death."

"Yes." Frost paused. "Stryker. He is behind all of this. The bus. Jay. Laurie and Josh. There's more. A device. NO—damn it. He's dead."

Laura retracted her claw— _Snakt!_ —and let the man crumple to the floor, a ribbon of blood spurting out like a geyser and hitting her in the face. "Yes."

"The attack is over." Frost looked at Julian, who was gaping at Laura. "Mr. Keller. Please. I need your help. We need to regroup. We need to find Josh, I did not see where he went, he is very angry about the attempt on Laurie…"

Laura wiped the blood off her face and headed for the staircase, no longer listening. She had done it. She had saved them. It had been as Logan said it would. But what if they shunned her, afterward? The looks of revolt on Nori's and Julian's faces. Cessily's and Sooraya's gasps. She would no longer be welcome. Included. Her head lowered.

"Wait, Laura!" Sooraya called, running into the foyer after her.

Laura paused, her hand already on the bannister. "Yes?"

The girl's warm brown eyes were wide. "I wanted to say…thank you."

She raised her eyebrows. "For?"

Sooraya lowered her head. "I know you took my place. I found my niqab in the hamper. It had…many holes. And blood. _Your blood._ You saved me."

Julian seemed to overhear this. He stepped into the foyer, but he was silent, looking at Laura uncertainly, her forehead wrinkled and his arms folded.

"I…" She looked down. "I did not think Allah wanted you to die. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Sooraya sounded sad.


	5. Chapter 5 - Looking at the Clone

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews! First the ones I didn't get to address by PM: Blackknife- yep, Julian's calming down a bit, as he's doing a lot of growing, fast. And yes, Laurie survives. This gave a chance for Laura's killing to be introduced in a controlled way, where she directly saves a life by taking one. Chenner- actually, I always thought the attack on the school was realistic. The Purifiers were fanatics, who don't obey laws, and they had advanced technology. There was no way for the police to know what their plans would be. Also, it's doubtful that they left behind evidence in the bus attack (in the comics it was missiles I believe, here it was explosives). In the real world, police often fail to protect against attacks before they happen. Most security beef-up is reactionary. Alright, hope everyone continues to enjoy, keep the reviews coming! :)

* * *

CHAPTER 5

 _Looking at the Clone_

* * *

Laura stirred later that night to hear Sooraya slipping into the room. She looked tired.

Sooraya peered at her. "Are you awake?"

"Yes." Laura sat up. "I heard shouting, before I slept. What—"

Her roommate looked down. "Josh…Josh killed William Stryker. With his powers."

Laura frowned. "Why?"

"For the attack on Laurie." The other girl paused. "I think…all the death recently has changed him. He tried to heal many of the students from the bus, and he could not." Her eyebrows drew together. "The thought of losing Laurie…he could not handle it." Her tone was heavy, but not disgusted, the way Nori had seemed when she plunged her claw into the man's brain.

Laura raised her eyebrows. "You do not judge him."

"No." Sooraya paused. "I, too, have killed. To defend myself and my mother." She flinched. "It only brought us more trouble. But I do not regret it. I...would do it again, if needed."

"Yes." Laura looked down. "Did you kill your mother?"

Sooraya gazed at her. "No."

"Oh." Laura's lips pressed into a line. "Goodnight."

Her roommate hesitated, perhaps thinking of asking her if _she_ did. But all she said was "Goodnight, Laura." She turned to her bed, and the conversation was over.

* * *

Early the next morning, there was a knock on the door. Laura opened it, wondering if it would be Cyclops or Frost, telling her to pack. Or Logan. But to her surprise, it was Cessily.

The metal girl smiled uneasily. "Uh, hi! Can you come downstairs? We need your help."

Laura hesitated. "Why?"

"You're the only one with super hearing." Cessily hesitated. "We kind of need you to eavesdrop on a conversation and tell us what they're saying."

"Oh." Laura frowned. "Okay."

The conversation turned out to be one between Frost and Carol Danvers. The latter had come bearing news about Jay, who had been found dead—in the same church that Laura had been ambushed in.

Sooraya's eyes filled with tears as Laura shared this news.

Afterward, she had gone upstairs, not taking part in the group discussion about the mystery of his death that followed. Laura did not know what to do to help, so she followed her up, and sat in silence with her. Neither spoke for a long, long time. But somehow, it seemed to help Sooraya. After a while, she threw back her niqab, pressed a Kleenex against her nose, and nodded slightly, then surprised her with a hug. "Thank you, Laura. You are kind."

Laura had never been called that before. But she had been hugged. Her eyebrows drew together, as she returned the embrace. "You are, too."

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door, which was still open slightly. The girls turned to see Cessily.

"We're sorry, Sooraya." Cessily frowned. "Please, come back down. We're just as shocked as you are. We'll just talk, okay? About Jay."

"Thank you, but I want to be alone right now." Sooraya gave the other girl a small, sad smile. "I will join you later."

Cessily sighed. "Okay."

"Do you want me to go, too?" Laura asked, after the other girl left.

Sooraya shook her head. "No. You understand." She pressed the Kleenex to her nose again. "You understand that you do not need to speak about grief to feel it."

Laura looked down. "Yes."

* * *

They spent the rest of the day mostly in silence. Sooraya went to bed early again, her Kleenex still pressed against her nose. Laura copied her, deciding that she had better rest while she could, since another attack seemed imminent.

She awoke to someone was banging on the door. _Snff._ Julian. She slipped out of bed and pulled it open a crack. "Yes?"

His dark hair was rumpled, and he was dressed in what she assumed was what he wore to bed: a black t-shirt with a skull, and nylon shorts. He was frowning. "Something's up. Everyone's in David's bedroom. You guys coming?"

"Yes." Sooraya called, now awake. "Please give me a moment."

"Good." He paused, looked at Laura. "And you?" He sounded a little apprehensive, his frown deepening.

She shook her head. "You do not want me to."

"Huh?" He folded his arms. A defensive gesture. "What do you mean?"

Sooraya put her hand on Laura's shoulder. "She will be there. Give her a moment, too."

Julian's eyes flickered down the latter's body, and froze for a moment on her tank top, then lowered, taking in her underwear. He paused and his mouth opened as if to speak. Laura waited, but he said nothing. His heart started beating faster. A lot faster. Like she had just threatened to kill him.

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She leaned out and sniffed him, checking for adrenaline. No, but there was something else. Unfamiliar.

"O-okay." He pulled back and turned away. "You know where to find me." He sounded confused.

Sooraya closed the door firmly. "Change, _now._ " She sounded mildly disapproving.

Laura obeyed, her forehead wrinkled. What had _that_ been about?

* * *

Laura listened as the others argued. Apparently, Nori had received some sort of transmission through her gauntlets. A distress signal. The others thought it was related to the recent events, with Jay and the sniper, and the attack on the school.

Sooraya looked at her frowning. "Laura, where did you go? When you went in my place the other night, to the address Jay gave me?"

"A church." Laura paused. "Probably the one Jay—"

Nori held up her hand. "Don't say that, please. Not you." She was wearing a big t-shirt and sweats. And her gauntlets, of course.

"Shut up." Julian glared at her. "Did you see anything? Or, uh, _smell_ anything that might be helpful here?"

Laura paused. "Yes. An energy trail. When I followed it…after I finished with the ambush…I saw a large figure disappearing in the sky, heading in the southeastern direction." She paused. "It was pink."

"Interesting." David rubbed his chin. He was wearing flannel pajamas, and was laying on his bed, on top of the covers.

"Wonder what's big and pink." Cessily wrinkled her nose. She was in a blue nightdress.

"That's what she said!" Santo grinned. He was wearing shorts, but no shirt. Laura wondered how clothes even benefited him, since he was made of rocks and did not have a body temperature.

"Oh my god." Cessily rubbed her face. "Seriously. Santo. Not the time _or_ place."

"Aw, c'mon." Santo shrugged. "Just tryin' to lighten the mood. Can't be serious _all_ the time, y'know."

"Danvers said something." David paused. "She found something scratched in the floor beside Jay. A word."

Nori nodded. "NIMR."

"What the hell does that even _mean?_ " Cessily asked. "What's a 'nimr'?"

David pursed his lips, thinking. Nori glanced at him, her expression softening a little.

Laura leaned back against the dresser. Something about Nori and David reminded her of that strange scent earlier, in the hallway, when Julian had reacted oddly to her. It seemed a little familiar, now that she thought about it. But when had she smelled it before? In what context?

She tilted her head slightly so she could look at Julian, across the room. He was leaning against the wall, arms folded. He was frowning. Also, he was now in his uniform, the new red and black one. Her face started to feel hot almost immediately, and she looked down, biting her lip. But then she wanted to look at him again, so she glanced up. And caught _him_ looking at her. They both looked away quickly, as if it had been a mistake. A mutual mistake.

Laura's eyebrows drew together. Now she was very, _very_ confused.

"Awww. She's _sweet_ on you, Keller!" Nori grinned.

Julian stood up straight. "Don't know what you're talking about."

"Wolverine's psychopathic clone." She pointed at Laura. "She keeps sneaking glances at you." Pause. "You'd really deserve each other, y'know."

Laura closed her eyes, feeling heat crawl up her neck and across her face again. A different kind of heat. Bad heat. She didn't want everyone to notice this strange habit she'd fallen into. Especially not Julian.

" _Nori!_ " Cessily hissed. "That was—"

"How would you know she was looking unless you were watching us yourself?" Julian shot at Nori, smirking.

She paused, and glanced at David. "I—I wasn't. I was looking at the clone."

"Uh huh." David didn't seem to be paying attention. "Hey—wait a minute. There was that robot, we fought for the final field day. In the danger room." He paused. "Nimrod."

"What?" Julian unfolded his arms, his attention refocused.

"Yeah. You know him. Big, pink robot." David frowned. "That was what you saw in the hologram thing, right, Nori? A big pink blob, you said. Talking to Forge. Threatening him. Showing him stuff." He paused, and she nodded. "Well, Nimrod is a time traveler. Maybe he was showing Forge the future. Or possible futures."

"Nimrod was…" Julian swallowed. "No one beat him. That's why we tied last year, remember?"

"Yeah." David sat up. "We need to tell the teachers. Come on!"

* * *

Cyclops listened to David's story, but shook his head. "We'll check it out when we get back from Storm's wedding. But all our systems are clear. Hank checked in with Forge just a while ago. He said all systems were normal." He paused. "You kids should relax. Have a good night's sleep. I know you miss Jay, but I promise, taking a rest will help. He wouldn't want you to worry yourselves to death. You know that." He patted David's shoulder and boarded the jet.

Santo shook his head. "Why does Nehzno get to go?!"

"Because he's Wakandan." Cessily saw his blank look, and rolled her eyes. "And Storm is marrying the king of Wakanda. Oh, just…never mind. I swear, you get dumber every day."

They walked away from the hangar in silence.

Julian stopped Laura just outside the door. "About earlier."

She felt her face instantly get hot, but she held his gaze.

He cleared his throat. "Why _were_ you looking at me?"

Laura hesitated. Then she leaned forward. "Why were _you_ looking at me?"

"'Cause _you_ were looking at _me_." Pause. "There's been other times."

She paused, too. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Julian recognized she was quoting him, and he grinned slightly. "Yeah. I...I just didn't want Nori teasing me about it. But she's right. You look at me. A lot."

Laura hesitated. "I don't know."

"Okay." He folded his arms, frowning. "Don't, uh, do it anymore, then."

She shook her head, closed her eyes. He turned and followed the others, and after a few seconds, so did she.


	6. Chapter 6 - Give Me a Challenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews as always! I think those few contractions slipped in the editing process, whoops. To be fair, I believe Laura uses the word "don't" in the comics (I distinctly remember her saying "I don't want to talk about this"-I'll check that out on the weekend). I've made a mental note to do an additional editing sweep just for Laura's dialogue, since I prefer Laura without contractions too. But yes, it would make sense for her to eventually start talking like her peers. As for Professor X, I always wondered that too, but Kyle & Yost in their infinite wisdom did not involve him in their stories. I think they just wanted to keep the adults out altogether and have these stories just be about the kids and the power of friendship. Which isn't _too_ hard to believe, given how much chaos was going on for the school back then. Anyways, I'm excited, we're almost getting to the point of where the original content starts bleeding in. Hope you continue to enjoy and again thanks for the great reviews! :)

PS: Yes, some of the fight/action scenes I have truncated, because the comics do a great job of painting that all out and I'd like to focus on the character interactions. That won't always be the case.

* * *

CHAPTER 6

 _Give Me a Challenge_

* * *

"You sure you can fly this thing?" Julian asked, as the climbed into the old Blackbird jet, sitting in a dark corner of the hangar, its nose pointed at a derelict-looking launch tunnel.

"I did okay on the exercises, with auto pilot." David's tone was serious. "But those were simulations. I've never been flying for real." He was slipping into the pilot's seat. "So we'll see, I guess."

"I dunno about this." Cessily sounded nervous.

Laura slipped into the copilot seat and began strapping herself into the harness.

"This is so cool." David glanced at her. "Can you believe it? This is the original X-jet. This is what the first X-men took out, on all their missions. Cyclops…Jean Grey…Storm…Wolverine…"

"Yes. I can smell them." Laura leaned forward and flipped on the dashboard light.

"You don't sound impressed." This was from Julian, who was standing between the seats, also looking at the dashboard in awe.

Laura looked up at him. "Am I supposed to be?"

He paused. "No. Guess not."

She looked at David. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess." David put his hands on the steering yoke. "Let's get this bird in the air."

Laura leaned over and began pressing buttons. "Sit down and strap yourself in, Julian."

His forehead wrinkled, but he did as told.

The auto flight program failed a quarter of the way down the launch tube, just as the jet was beginning to pick up speed. Lights started to flash on the panel, and an automated female voice announced: "Warning. Warning. Warning. Error code 36. Automatic navigation failure imminent."

"Oh my god!" David's eyes were wide. "What do we do? What the hell do we do? What the hell is 'error code 36'?! I can't navigate this thing!"

Laura grabbed the co-pilot yoke, pulling it steady. "Julian. Clear a path." Her voice was firm.

He leaned between the seats so he could see what was coming up ahead. "On it."

They approached the end of the tunnel. David glanced at the sonar map. "There's a _huge_ obstruction ahead."

"No prob." Julian grinned. "This is _easy_. Give me a challenge."

Then they saw it: an enormous boulder blocking the path, so completely that they could barely see light on the other side.

"HOLY FUCKING CRAP!" Julian shouted. "I CAN'T—"

"FOCUS!" Laura ordered, through gritted teeth. Her knuckles were turning white.

He threw up a shield, and the jet crashed through the boulder like it wasn't there.

Everyone let out a breath of relief, slowly releasing the things they'd grabbed onto.

Laura looked up at Julian, and he looked down at her.

"Thought I told you to stop doing that!" he snapped. Then he realized his hand was clenching her shoulder, hard enough to cause bruises. He removed it. "Sorry."

She returned her gaze to the sky ahead, trying to ignore how her shoulder was tingling where he'd touched it. And Julian was trying to ignore how his hand was tingling. He turned away without saying a word, scowling.

* * *

The landing was even rougher. The gears didn't work, and Laura ended up crashing the jet into a parking lot. They skidding to a stop, and the pavement behind them caught fire, but nobody died.

As the others filed out, she tilted her head back against the rest and closed her eyes, breathing through her nose. She had never tried so hard _not_ to kill.

"You coming?" Cessily called to her. She and Sooraya were almost at the office building already.

She unstrapped her safety belt and headed to the door, to find Julian waiting for her, holding out his hand. Like he was trying to offer her something. But his palm was empty.

She gave him a puzzled look, crouching slightly to avoid it and jumping down.

His eyes narrowed, and he glared at her. "That was _bad._ Really bad. You suck as a pilot." He paused. "I vote you don't fly things anymore."

Laura arched her eyebrows, irritated. "David should not fly, either. He is equally terrible."

He stared at her for a moment, then the corners of his mouth turned up. "Damn. You hear that, Alleyne? Even the _clone_ thinks you're worthless."

"Whatever." David was waiting for them on the edge of the parking lot, his arms folded.

Nori gritted her teeth, and started toward them. David caught her wrist and pulled her back. "Oh c'mon!" she yelped, electricity crackling around her.

Laura felt her face getting hot, but she didn't like that he had twisted her words. "No, I did not say that. David is valuable. We would not be here without him." She paused. "And my name is Laura."

"Whoa." Santo was watching them. "X sure told _you._ "

"Shut up." Julian took a step toward her, his eyes beginning to glow green. " _What_ did you just say, clone?" He took another step, so he could glare at her right in the face.

"You heard me." Laura held his gaze.

For a moment, he stood in place, his eyes beginning to smoke slightly. Then the glow disappeared. He leaned forward so he could whisper in her ear. "Down, girl."

Laura paused, then made a fist. _Snkkt!_ Her claws stopped just short of a very important area, and he couldn't help it. He jumped back.

Snickers, all around. Santo's were the loudest. "Guess Nori was right, huh?"

Julian's face was turning red. "Whatever. Just—whatever." He shook his head, then stomped off across the parking lot. As he passed David, he gave him a hard mental shove to the side.

Laura watched him go, her eyebrows arched slightly. Then she followed the others into the old office building.

"Are you alright?" Sooraya asked. "I saw that Julian was…speaking…to you. We were

about to come back."

"Yes." Laura sniffed the air, and detected traces of the electricity she'd smelled at the church. "Nimrod is here."

* * *

They fought their way through wave after wave of smaller robots on their way to Forge's lab. They were not difficult to defeat, but they were numerous, and by the time Laura reached the door, she was already quite tired. She leaned her head against the frame, watching as David spoke with the man they'd come to save. Her eyes slid shut, and she reached up and wiped perspiration off her forehead with the back of her arm.

"About earlier."

She opened her eyes, and saw that Julian was leaning against the wall nearby. "Yes?"

"I was just messing around." He paused. "You didn't have to go and get all _serious._ " His forehead was wrinkled, and he was frowning slightly.

Laura said nothing, her eyes slipping past him to Forge and David. Behind them, Nimrod lay on a table, many wires hooked up to his body. The pink thing that had disappeared into the sky. The thing that was at the heart of all the recent troubles at the school.

Perhaps she could leave after they had killed it.

"Look at me when I talk to you."

Laura's nose wrinkled. "You did not want me to look at you before."

Julian leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. "Oh my god. You're so frustrating. Just— _ugh,_ clone. Can't you just be normal for, like, a minute?" His tone was full of complaint.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, mildly irritated.

He fell silent. But he was watching her.

Despite her annoyance, she felt her face getting hot, and she closed her eyes again. A few moments passed. The others were still talking with Forge, and the sounds of the machinery in the lab were lulling.

"I'm sorry." Julian's voice was very low.

She opened her eyes again. "Why?"

"I just…" he looked down, frowning. "I can't explain it. There's something about you that just rubs me the wrong way."

Her forehead wrinkled. Before she could ask him to clarify, the room filled with a loud, booming, nonhuman voice.

"THIS UNIT IS ONLINE." Pause. "IDENTIFYING TARGETS."

* * *

Laura had never met a foe so powerful in her life. Nimrod didn't even seem bothered by her attacks. She hit the wall behind him, over and over again, feeling hard crunches as her bones broke. And tiny _clicks_ as they realigned themselves.

After the twenty-eighth time, she found herself, for the first time in her life, wondering if she would actually survive this encounter.

The others were no more successful. Nori and Julian were becoming exhausted from constant energy discharge, but nothing penetrated his thick pink armor, not even Sooraya's sand blasts. She reformed across the room, her eyes wide. "I cannot find an access port!"

Beside her, Cessily was in a lot of pain, her metal bubbling where an attack had glanced off her side. "There's got to be. I mean…how does it get energy, then? There _must_ be a way in!"

"That's what he said!" Santo grinned at the girls. "Hey, ugly! Over here!" He smacked his fists together and charged.

Nimrod whirled around and shot him, with a charge of antimatter. Square in the chest.

He exploded.

Laura covered her face with her arm against the spray of shards. Chips imbedded in her skin. When it was finished, Santo was nowhere to be seen.

" _NO!_ " Julian ran towards where Santo had been, just a few moments ago, but Cessily pushed him out of the way as Nimrod spun around toward him and let out another blast. She whimpered as it caught her leg, and a blob of mercury dripped off and landed on the floor, sizzling. And then it disappeared.

Julian pushed himself up from the floor. He glared at Nimrod with glowing eyes, his face contorting with hatred.

Laura glanced at him. She had felt that look, once, on her own face. The moment her foot claw slid through Rice's throat.

"We _have_ to find a way to beat it!" Nori sounded like she was going to start crying.

David, who was hiding behind a cabinet, nodded. "I think I know a way. Nimrod's not from this timeline, right?"

"No, David!" She glared at him. "I don't need to know _why,_ just _how!_ How do we kill it?!"

"The square design on his chest. It's a door." He paused. "Pull it open and overload the core. He'll pop back to his own timeline, and be unable to come back."

"X! Mercury!" Nori's voice was commanding. "Need you to get that door open. Hellion, shield. I'll take care of overloading it." She took her gloves off.

Laura got to her feet and glanced at Cessily. She knew this was the last attempt she had in her, and she wanted it to be a good one.

The other girl was sneaking around behind Nimrod. Nodding at her. She was ready, too. They were all ready. Santo's death had filled them with new urgency.

Laura gritted her teeth, then popped her claws again— _SNKKT!_ —and ran up the wall, then hurled herself at Nimrod, as fast as she could, her fist ramming into the square. She felt the metal part easily under her claws, then her knuckle crunched against its chest plate, at maximum depth. She brought her fist up, cutting.

Then everything turned white. She was dimly aware of flying backwards, and slamming into a wall. And then part of her was disappearing. She watched in a kind of fascination as one of her hands dissolved into the floor. It didn't reform.

Then her eyes slid shut. Or eye. Other things were missing, too. But it didn't matter anymore. She couldn't feel anything. She was sinking into darkness. She was sinking through the snow, and Sarah was waiting for her. She couldn't see her, but she could sense her there. Just waiting, patiently, for when they could leave this cold, lonely place together.

Then she was falling. There was a roaring noise, and light, and then she reached up and grabbed her head, terrified by the deep crackles. Her eardrums rebuilding themselves. Her vision was tripled, then doubled, then just blurry. And then she was sitting on the floor, Laura again.

Elixir peered in shock. "Did it work?!"

Julian was staring at her, too, his expression a mixture of fascination and fear. "Laura? Are you…are you okay?"

Her eyebrows drew together. "Hi."

Elixir grinned at her. "Hi."

Julian swayed on his feet. "I…I knew…you could…save her." Then his eyes rolled up in his head, and he collapsed onto the floor, out cold.


	7. Chapter 7 - Can You Find Pizza

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the great reviews! I responded to most by PM, but a few I wanted to reiterate here: re David- No, he has lost his powers at this point. Even if he did have his powers, he couldn't have tapped into Cyclops's skills, since he needed to be in close proximity with them and did not retain their skills afterward. It was the Magik arc (if I am correct) in which the Cuckoos unlocked skill retention for him, so while he couldn't tap into new skills, he could remember every skill he had ever borrowed. In the comic, Laura notices he doesn't know how to fly the plane, and he admits he only knows Autopilot. I just changed it a little bit into having that system fail faster, so Laura could step in because...I wanted to! re Laura's claws- yes, I considered that, however her claws retract into her forearms. They were not left on the floor, I could have mentioned them automatically retracting though. A case of the idea not making it to the page! Happens more than you'd think. Well, here we go, our first chapter which introduces some original content. There will still be some strong hints to a comic arc in the next couple of chapters, but it will deviate in execution. Hope you enjoy :)

PS: As if writing fan fiction for a comic isn't the nerdiest thing I could be doing, I went full out nerd, sat down with google maps and a calculator and figured out Julian would have to fly at mach 4 (4 times the speed of sound or 3069.08 mi/h) to go from Dallas to Weschester, which is a distance of 1388.06 miles, in 0.45 hours (27 minutes). His speed could have varied slightly of course, but I was just trying to figure out the rough speed range. Flying at mach like Kyle and Yost said in the comic would have taken him 1 hour 47 minutes, which would have resulted in dead Laura. I figured roughly under half an hour of death was still reasonable for her to be resuscitated given her powers + Elixir would negate any brain cell damage. Plus, I just don't see Julian being able to keep up the effort for almost two hours. Okay, well, I hope you enjoy the story even more, knowing it somewhat scientifically accurate!

* * *

CHAPTER 7

 _Can You Find Pizza_

* * *

Laura hugged her knees as she sat on the empty bed, resting her face against them and peering over the tops as she watched Julian sleep. Her eyebrows were drawn together. He had been sleeping for a very long time now. Thirty-four hours and counting. She had been doing the counting.

One of her reasons for being here was concern. She had not been conscious for the journey herself, but apparently, he had flown her almost two thousand miles in under half an hour. She was not sure how, since she had never seen him fly very fast before. She had estimated his maximum speed to be thirty kilometers per hour, even during the selection exercise Frost had held soon after her arrival. Regardless, he had managed to do it, and now he was completely drained of energy. She hoped he had not caused himself some kind of brain damage. She knew telekinetics could be prone to hemorrhages, and so she was monitoring him.

The other thing that brought her here was curiosity. Why had he been so intent on saving her? She understood that they were teammates. Allies. They were obligated to protect each other, if able, with the understanding that the favor would be returned. But she had technically died soon after Nimrod had struck her. The chance of resuscitating her had been low. The possibility of a return on his investment had subsequently been very low. Yet he had tried anyway, possibly damaging himself in the process.

This did not make any sense to her.

The only other people to risk their wellbeing for hers had been her relatives. Sarah. Debbie and Megan. Logan, perhaps.

Julian was not a relative. She was not sure if they were even friends. They had almost attacked each other, before they had entered the building. _I can't explain it. There's something about you that just rubs me the wrong way._ Her nose wrinkled. What did that mean? Was that another way of saying he hated her, like he had said during Frost's exercise, a month ago now? If he hated her, why try so hard to ensure she survived? Or would he do this for just anyone, regardless of if he hated them or not? Or…did he not hate her, after all?

And why did she feel so strange when she looked at him? She wanted to gaze at him for long periods of time, but when she did, her face began to get hot. It was not physically painful. It was not a true burning sensation, the way Nimrod's energy ray had melted her flesh. But there was heat. Her forehead wrinkled, and she tightened her hold on her knees.

She was forcing herself to look at him now. For the last two hours. A few droplets of perspiration beaded on her skin, but at least he would not catch her doing it. If he woke, she would hear the increase in his heart rate, in time to leave. Maybe if she gazed at him long enough, the urge to do so would dissipate entirely. Then she could stop worrying about it altogether.

But what if it did not help? After all, she _had_ been sitting here for two hours, staring at his face and torso, and she did not feel any less fascinated. In fact, she suspected that it might be making the situation worse. She had just had an idle thought that had made her heart beat faster, and her mouth go dry: what would if feel like if she walked over to the bed and pressed her palm against his chest? Would her hand tingle again, like when he had grabbed her shoulder in the jet?

Her eyes widened. This was definitely what she wanted now. To touch him. She stiffened. _Why?_ Why did it matter? What would the purpose of that be? What a strange thought. She slid off the bed to her feet. She needed to leave now. He probably would not like her being in his room. Then again, perhaps he would. It was difficult to keep track of what he wanted. She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head slightly.

"…Sofia…" Julian mumbled into his pillow, his voice hoarse.

Many things happened at once. Laura's eyes snapped open. Her lips curved downward of their own accord. Her knuckles itched. Without thinking, she popped her claws. _Snkkt!_

He stirred. "Huh?" He opened his eyes.

She panicked and crouched, caught in a moment of indecision. Apparently, this looked threatening to him, because the next thing she knew, a wall of blinding green light hit her, and she was crashing through a layer of drywall and wood supports into the next room.

Then, loud screaming. The next room was Pixie's.

Laura panicked again, running to the window and throwing herself out headfirst. She hit the ground three stories below— _pop pop crunch CRUNCH!_ —and there was a tinkle as glass rained down around her. She barely waited for her joints to pop back in place before she took off running across the lawn, not really knowing _where_ she was going, but knowing she had to escape the scene quickly and collect herself.

* * *

Collecting herself was harder than anticipated. She stayed out all night, returning to the same clump of trees where she had retreated to the night of the funeral. The place that Cessily had found her at, when she came to ask her to join them inside.

This time, no one came to find her.

She tried to sleep, curling against the trunk of the tree and wrapping her arms around herself for warmth. The events kept replaying in her head, hearing him mumble the other girl's name. Then her pointless reaction, alerting him to her presence. She felt deeply disappointed in herself. Julian had caught her standing at the end of his bed, claws out, in an attack pose. Just the thought of that made her face burn. He was right. She could not be _normal,_ even for a few moments. She would never be normal.

Dawn arrived, a mixture of vibrant orange and pink in the sky. She sat up, brushing the dirt and twigs from her face and hair, then sat against the tree, considering what she should do now.

Nimrod had been defeated, the ultimate cause behind all of the deaths at the school. The other students were now relatively safe. She knew Frost wished that she would leave, and was eager to find an excuse to do so. While the other students seemed to tolerate her presence now, she thought that might change, thanks to what had just happened with Julian. Plus, she had caused the damage of a wall and a window.

Maybe it was best if she moved on.

The more she thought about this, the more this made sense. She gazed at the sunrise, thinking of where she would go. Back to San Francisco? No, there was nothing left for her there. Somewhere new. Somewhere that she could start over, perhaps use what she had learned here at the school to try and assimilate. Her stomach rumbled, and she looked over her shoulder, at the big brick building, then nodded to herself. She would get her things, and some food, and then leave. Destinations could be decided later. At the bus station. She got to her feet and headed toward the main entrance. Packing would not take long. She had not emptied her backpack all the way. It still contained the book and the letter from her mother, and a spare outfit. She had only removed a few toiletries and her sleepwear.

Seven minutes later, she begun to creep down the stairs again, her departure so far entirely unimpeded. Then she paused, listening. There was someone in the kitchen already. She listened for a few moments. Santo.

She weighed her options. She could just leave without the food. But she had recently healed her entire body. She had not eaten the day before they had fought Nimrod, or afterward. She was not sure how much energy she had left. And she had a long walk ahead.

Finally, she continued toward the kitchen. Santo probably would not even notice her, if she was quiet, and he was occupied. He was not very observant of his surroundings, and he liked to play games on his phone while eating. She lowered her head as she entered and headed straight for the fridge.

"Wassup, X?" Santo sounded muffled. He was eating cold pizza, two slices at a time.

Laura closed her eyes. Then she glanced at him. "You have been reassembled."

"Yeah. You too, or so I heard." He swallowed. "You ask me, we're the cool kids in this place. All the others gotta worry about havin' a target on their backs, but us two are practically invisible."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "Do you mean 'invincible'?"

"Uh." Santo thought for a moment. "Probably? Dr. McCoy used a bunch of other words, but that was the one I remember. He thought I could put myself back together from a whole bunch of things. Like, anything with minerals in it."

"Interesting." Laura pulled open the fridge door and leaned in, then opened the fruit drawer and began to shovel things into her bag that she knew would be nutritious. An apple, a pear, some grapes.

"You goin' somewhere?" Santo had apparently noticing what she was doing.

"Yes. The bus station." Laura noticed a bag of cheese sticks and picked them up. Yes, some protein. That should be sufficient. She began to zip her backpack up.

"Cool." Santo paused. "Like, killer clone stuff, or…?"

"No." She closed the fridge door. "Goodbye."

Santo waved. "See ya later, X."

* * *

Laura sat on a bench at the station, watching the busses come in. Hers would be ready for boarding anytime now. The driver had returned to his seat, and was working his way through a checklist. He was nearing the bottom.

She had chosen Denver. She had seen it on the departures board, and had remembered Megan talking about a trip she'd taken there to go skiing, once. It sounded scenic. Mountains. Something new. The bus driver reached beside his seat and pulled a lever. The doors finally opened, and Laura stood up, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. She began to head toward the bus. Then she froze, as a whiff of a familiar scent wafted by. She turned her head slightly, and saw, through the crowd of people heading toward the bus, Julian and Santo. They were standing near the departure area. Arguing. She tuned in to their voices.

"Santo, why the _hell_ didn't you mention the backpack sooner?!" Julian seemed frustrated. He was waving his hand, the other buried in his hair.

The big rock boy shrugged. "What?! People carry backpacks all the time! Why's that so important?" He sounded defensive.

The crowd began to block her line of sight.

"Because she never takes a single thing with her _anywhere!_ Have you ever seen another girl do that? Even _Cess_ has a purse."

"And?"

"That means, if Laura _did_ have a bag…and was going to the _bus station…_ "

"Yeah?"

"Are you serious?"

"Dude, just quit it with the riddles. Why we at the station anyway?"

"Holy shit, Santo. Because she's _leaving_. How are you passing your classes?"

"Why you think I sit behind you and Cess?"

"…" Pause. "Just…just look for her. You take the west terminal, I'll take the east…meet back here."

"What am I s'posed to do if I find her?"

"Don't let her leave. We need to talk some sense into her."

"She's probably leaving 'coz of _you_ , y'know."

"Yeah, well, I apologized. I know I hazed her a bit…but she's a big girl."

The crowd cleared. She could see that Santo was grinning. "And you say _I'm_ the idiot."

"Going to Denver, miss?"

Laura started, looked up at the bus driver. She hesitated, then handed him her ticket, and climbed up the stairs, her eyebrows drawn together. Whatever Santo had meant, she would never know. She shrugged slightly and walked down the aisle, finally selecting a seat near the back. Beside the window.

A couple of minutes passed, the seats around her filling slowly. She tilted her head back against the rest. Her mind cycled back to Julian and Santo, and their search for her. Did they really want her to stay? Julian had sounded more upset than Santo, but then again, she had never witnessed Santo get upset about anything, so she had no standard to measure his reaction by.

Her eyebrows drew together. Why did this matter? Her logic had been clear. Now that the danger had passed, she was just a liability to the school. To them. That was all that mattered. But something nagged at her. She closed her eyes, struggling. _Don't let her leave._ Julian had sounded so certain. As if preventing her from leaving was something he needed to do. As if it was his mission.

She hesitated, then cleared her throat and spoke to the older man who had settled beside her, as she began to get up. "Excuse me."

He gave her a look of deep annoyance. "Typical! Not even moving yet and you have to piss…knew I shouldn't have sat beside a _woman_."

Laura did not reply, but she did swing her backpack into his face rather violently as she slung the strap over her shoulder. The man sputtered and hurled insults after her. She smiled to herself and paused beside the driver, holding out her ticket. "I have decided not to go. Please give this to someone who needs it."

The driver took the ticket, shaking his head slightly, but he did not comment.

She headed down the stairs and reached the bottom, then headed to the spot where she had last seen Julian and Santo speaking. They were gone now. But she could follow them easily. She had already sniffed the air and began walking when she realized she had chosen to follow Julian without even thinking about it. Her eyebrows drew together slightly.

It did not take her long to find him. He was leaning against a large visitor's map, his face downturned, and he was frowning. Deeply.

She waited until she was closer, then cleared her throat. "Hi."

He looked up, the expression evaporating from his face. And then suddenly his arms were squeezing her, hard. "Hi, Laura." He mumbled this into her hair.

Laura stiffened for a moment in surprise, then hugged him back.

After a moment he drew away, giving her a distressed look. "Were you—were you leaving because of _me_?"

She hesitated. "You are not the only reason."

"Please. Don't go. I— _we_ need you. You're one of us." He paused. "Will you stay?"

Laura gazed at him.

He frowned. "I can't lose you too."

She smirked at him. "I will think about it."

His forehead wrinkled. "Was that…was that a joke?"

"Perhaps." She looked in the direction she had come, as Santo approached them, waving his hands.

"Dude…I found her!" he yelled, still some distance away. "She's standing right in front of you!"

Julian closed his eyes. "I'm starting to think I missed a piece in his head when I put him back together."

"You rebuilt him?" Laura looked at him in surprise. "He said he rebuilt himself."

"Of course he did." Julian glanced at her. "I saved you too, you know."

Laura nodded, adjusting her backpack on her shoulder.

He grinned. "Could say I'm your hero." Pause. "You should thank me."

She arched her eyebrows. "No."

His grin faded. "But…"

"I have saved your life before." She leaned a little closer. "We are even. Until the next time I rescue you. Then you will owe me again."

Julian gazed at her, his expression a mixture of annoyance and amusement.

"Duuude." Santo had joined them. "Someone call the firetruck. That was a killer _burn._ "

"Shut up." Julian shook his head. "Whatever. Let's just go home."

"Can we get somethin' to eat first? I'm hungry from all the walkin' I been doin' to help you find the second girl you've scared off this month."

" _Santo!"_ Julian punched him in the arm, his teeth gritted. Then he shook his hand, which was probably smarting from punching solid rock.

Laura sniffed the air. "There is a McDonald's a block from here. And a café a block and a half away. Or there is a diner, approximately three blocks west, one south."

"What the—" Santo gaped at her. "X, you officially have the world's coolest power! Can you find pizza?"

"You literally ate an entire pizza before we left." Julian sounded tired.

Santo grinned. "That means I got room for another."


	8. Chapter 8 - Just a Machine

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews! Glad people are enjoying the split away from canon. Hope you continue to enjoy! :)

* * *

CHAPTER 8

 _Just a Machine_

* * *

"HEY!" Julian shouted, as Laura flew past him, meeting the charging lizard monster head on before he could even throw up a shield. She flipped over its side, her foot claws drawing a neat line around the circumference of its throat and neck. A moment later its head fell off, and the body crumpled to the ground. At his feet.

She rose from her crouch. "I guess it is now your turn to save me."

He glared at her. "Stop doing that. I had it."

Laura paused. "No."

They were interrupted by the Danger Room doors opening, and Frost entering. "Well done. That was the last of them." She glanced at Laura. "However, _you_ were instructed _not_ to kill. Minus twenty-five points."

"Twenty-five?!" Nori glared at Laura. "She shouldn't be here."

"A lot of us shouldn't be." Julian glanced pointedly at David.

"Children, please." Frost arched her eyebrows. "Points can be redeemed. My patience, however, cannot. Are you ready to proceed?"

Nods, all around.

* * *

Laura looked at the ground.

She and the other students were lined up, watching as Frost paced back and forth, lecturing them on combat techniques for the next exercise. Occasionally, she waved her finger in the air. It was difficult to listen, since most of what Frost was telling them was very basic, and at times, inefficient, if not entirely wrong. She found herself tempted to correct her, but was reluctant to provoke the telepath. She knew from her past experiences at her cousin's school that teachers did not appreciate being corrected. She suspected Frost would be very, _very_ unappreciative

Then Frost began describing the last scenario they would encounter today: Weapon X.

"Your final challenge will be a familiar face." She paused, her voice deepening slightly. "Wolverine. But not as you know him today. No…you will face him in the days before he had gained consciousness. When he was nothing more than a feral animal. Invincible. Your one, and _only_ —way to defeat him is to—"

Laura closed her eyes. She just could not stay silent. If the challenge had been anything else, she could have held her tongue. But she had executed this scenario thousands of times. Nineteen hundred and eighty-two times as a combatant, and thirteen hundred and two times shadowing, to be precise. "You are incorrect."

She heard eight heads turning to look in her direction.

"Excuse _me?_ " Frost asked, staring at her.

Laura opened her eyes. "There are twenty-five ways to kill Weapon X." She paused. "Possibly twenty-six, however I never completed the last attempt successfully."

Frost folded her arms. " _Do_ enlighten us."

Nori also folded her arms. "Yeah." The other girl did not seem to like Laura. She had not addressed her directly since witnessing her plunging a claw into the back of a Purifier's head.

Laura cleared her throat. "Drowning, in the tank on the west wall. Electrocution, with the ceiling wires and the same tank. Gas explosion, by severing the pipe on the east wall and using the taser to ignite it. Decapitation—"

"His spine is adamantium though, right?" David interrupted her. He looked interested in what she was saying, his forehead wrinkled. Although they had not interacted much, he had always been neutral toward her, seeming to appreciate her tactical skills as an asset to the group.

"There is a little known defect between his cervical vertebrae, levels C2 and C3." Laura closed her eyes. "It took much practice, but an adamantium blade can be wedged in between the discs. With the right combination of forces, the head and body can be separated, and Weapon X will be paralyzed in the process." She paused, and looked at the other students again. "However, all this is unnecessary. You each have the ability to kill him, in ways other than I have described."

"Damn." Santo elbowed Julian. "Your girlfriend is like Solid Snake."

"Shut _up._ " Julian glared at the other boy, then looked over at Frost. "Uh, Ms. Frost, you were saying?"

Frost arched her eyebrows. "Are you sure you want me to continue, Mr. Keller? It sounds like _X-23_ has it all figured out."

He frowned and shook his head. "No. Please continue. We're listening."

As Frost resumed lecturing, Laura looked at the ground again, biting her lip. She wished she had never spoken at all. When would she learn that no one wanted to hear what she had to say? Especially Frost.

"Well." Frost folded her arms. "Let us proceed, then. Computer, load file twenty-seven point eleven. Good luck, children." She walked away, and the Danger Room doors slid shut in her wake. Then the seam disappeared as the simulation started. They were now in a series of metallic, steel lined hallways. Laura knew this place well. She knew that Weapon X was waiting for them, two corridors down and one to the left. He would wait there precisely five minutes, then if no one engaged him, he would come looking. Rice had allowed for several untimed exercises, to study her variance pattern.

The others began to move ahead, murmuring to each other. Laura smelled adrenaline. They were anxious, nervous about the approaching fight.

Julian swallowed. "Uh, Laura…"

He was still standing beside her. She had not forgotten that he was there, but for a moment, she had not been focused on his presence. She looked at him expectantly.

He rubbed his neck. "I wasn't trying to piss you off, just now, when I asked Frost to keep going. I just…I thought you might get in trouble…so…"

"Yes." She started to turn away to follow the others, but then he brushed his gloved fingertips against hers. She froze, and looked at him again in surprise.

Julian took a deeper breath, held her gaze. "You want to…do something?" His eyes were very blue.

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "Yes, but I will wait for Surge's orders."

"No" He paused. "After, I mean."

She hesitated. "I…do what?"

He shrugged. "Like…go see a movie?"

Laura frowned. "I have seen a movie before. I do not need to see it again."

"Wha?" Julian stared at her, his forehead wrinkled. "Uh…okay…dinner?"

She shook her head. "I ate before this exercise. I am not hungry."

He bit his lip. "Club?"

Now her forehead wrinkled.

"Like…dancing. There's one around here that doesn't card." Julian paused. "Sofia liked that place."

Laura's mouth pressed into a line.

He scowled, his hands tightening into fists at his sides. "Fine, just—whatever. I'm busy anyway, so—so never mind."

Laura raised her eyebrows. "Then why did you ask?"

For a moment it looked like Julian wanted to shout at her, but instead he gritted his teeth "You're not worth it… _clone_." Then he turned and headed after the others, his shoulders held very stiffly.

* * *

The group arrived at a section of hallway where the lights were flickering. Laura knew that several wires in the ceiling of the next room had been slashed and were hanging, exposed, to be used for electrocution if needed. The walls of the hallway around them were marked with deep gashes and spattered with blood, although there were no bodies. Laura suspected that they had been disabled for this simulation. Her peers were not comfortable with corpses yet.

There was a doorway to the left. Ahead, in the darkness, Laura could hear heavy breathing. She recognized it as Weapon X's. In real life, Logan's respirations were not that pronounced. She supposed it had been exaggerated for the purpose of the simulation, to enhance the fight-or-flight response.

The group stopped by the doorway.

"You can see in the dark, right, X?" Nori's voice was sharp, as if she resented having to address her at all.

Laura nodded slightly.

"Okay." The other girl paused. "You lead. We'll provide back up."

"You can't send the clone in by herself." Julian folded his arms. "That's a dumb move, Ashida. _Never_ send anyone in alone."

Nori glared at him. "Hey! This is _my_ team! Shut up and…"

Laura was not listening anymore. She had begun to creep into the darkness. It was already lessening. A shape was coming toward her. For a moment, she could tell it was Weapon X, wearing a metal helmet on his head, covered in wires and electrodes, his claws at the ready.

Then the image began to change. His form fell slightly, slenderizing. The claws disappeared. Now, Kimura was walking toward her, smacking her fist into her palm. "X!" she said, her voice bright. "Ready for some fun?"

Laura's eyes widened. She closed them. _Please, do not do this._ She hoped Ms. Frost would hear.

Kimura reached forward and grabbed a handful of her hair, then slammed her into the floor. "You'll need to do better than that, clone. I want to hear you beg for real." She backed this up with several hard kicks to her stomach. It felt very real. Her claws had come out at some point. The woman was now standing on her arm, grinding her boot heel into her wrist.

"How are you doing this?" Laura whispered, her eyebrows drawing together.

"Easy." Kimura leaned down. "You're just a machine. A machine has no willpower. A machine does whatever I tell it to. Or whatever anyone _else_ tells it to." She reached down into her belt. "Guess what I have for you, clone."

She pulled out a vial, filled with green fluid.

Laura's eyes widened. "No!" She knew that if the vial shattered, she would lose control entirely. She would go to sleep, and when she woke up, everything and everyone around her would be dead.

She shook her head and charged at Kimura, as hard as she could. "NO!" she shouted again, as they tumbled to the ground. She hacked at her handler's wrist, but her claws wouldn't penetrate her invulnerable skin. She grabbed for the vial, but Kimura swept her away, into the back corner of the room. She caught herself just in time, running up the wall and launching herself at the vial. Kimura punched her in the side of the head, hard, several times, and it twisted to the side with each strike, blood and hair flying.

There was a loud _crack!_ with the last punch. Spots swam before her eyes. She was failing. Kimura shoved her off, and holding the vial high, reached up to unscrew the cap, looking into her eyes. "Goodbye, X."

Laura gazed up in horror as the green droplet began to fall. It seemed to hang in the air forever. She felt something wet land on her nose. And then…Kimura faded away.

But not to darkness. The ceiling of the Danger Room reappeared, above her, twenty feet away. And there were people gathered around her. Concerned faces lined her vision. Cessily was holding a bottle of water, which she had just splashed on her face.

"Laura?" The metal girl's voice was tentative.

"What—" Laura's eyes flickered back and forth rapidly, searching the room. She realized two people were missing: Julian and Nori. She sat up quickly, wiping blood from her nose. "What did I do? Where—did I hurt anyone?"

"No, no." Cessily patted her shoulder. "We're all fine. You're good. You just—"

"That was insane!" Santo grinned. "I thought you taken' on Stryker's guys alone was something, but you just beat up _Wolverine._ It was like watchin' Street Fighter!"

"Oh, god, Santo—just shut up, forever." Cessily rolled her eyes. "We thought…Julian and Nori went to get Frost." She paused. "I think you were having a flashback or something."

"Yes." Sooraya's warm brown eyes were full of worry. "I have seen…people…have these before. A memory is triggered, and the person believes they are back in the moment the trauma occurred. Laura, are you alright?"

Laura closed her eyes. "Yes." She sat up, retracted her claws, and began to rub her elbows. It had felt far too real. Only her nose told her that Kimura had never been here.

How had Frost made it so _real_ this time? Even her reproduction of Sarah had not been as convincing as this.

Cessily rubbed her shoulder. "Do you need some water?"

"No." Laura shook her head, then got to her feet and headed toward the door, which had reappeared. It opened to reveal Julian and Nori, as well as a concerned looking Logan. And behind them stood Frost, her expression cool and impassive.

"Hey!" Julian spoke first, his forehead wrinkled as he reached for her shoulder. "Are you okay? That—"

She shrugged his hand away. "Excuse me." She started to brush past them, but Logan grabbed her wrist.

"Need to talk, kid." He looked at Frost. "You too."

* * *

They were sitting in Frost's office now, the latter behind the table, watching them casually, her eyebrows raised. Yet Laura suspected that she was a bit startled. She had probably not expected Logan to get involved.

"Well." Frost spoke first. "Didn't I tell you."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Tell me what?"

She pursed her lips. "That your little pet is dangerous." Her voice was clipped.

"No more dangerous than you or me." He paused. "What? You gonna tell me that _I'm_ not welcome here, next?"

"That's not the question here, and you know it." Frost looked at Laura. "Look at her, Logan. She doesn't even know right from wrong. She could have killed the other children, and wondered why we were displeased."

"An' yet she hasn't." Logan leaned forward, his nostrils flaring. "Until _you_ went and messed with her head. Kind of thinkin' _you're_ the one who shouldn't be around kids."

Laura closed her eyes. What would have happened, if Frost had made her think she was _smelling_ trigger scent, instead of just seeing it? Would she have reacted as she would to the real thing?

"Nonsense. I was not about to let her harm anyone." Frost leaned forward as well. "This was merely a controlled demonstration of how truly dangerous she is. We have enough problems already—"

"So, what? We should let her go out there and get captured, so she can be used against us?" Logan shook his head. "That's some real impressive stupidity right there."

Frost paused. "That is not what I am saying. But she cannot be stationed with the other students, either. It is inappropriate and—"

"You seemed happy enough to have her around when she saved you an' the kids from the Purifiers." Logan gritted his teeth. "The kids _you_ failed to protect."

Frost eyed him, her lips pressing into a line.

Logan put his arm around Laura's shoulder. "They like her now. Those kids, they're not as stupid as you are. Even that little shit Keller." He paused. "Yeah, _your_ pet came and got me so I could deal with _you_ , 'coz he figured out what was goin' on, an' he knew it wasn't right."

Frost tried not to react, but Laura caught the slight tensing of her fingers.

"She's fittin' in, and god help you if I hear you tryin' to stop that again." Logan let go of her shoulder and leaned forward again. "Stay the hell out of her head, and I'll keep my claws out of yours, how 'bout that?"

Frost's eyes narrowed. "Is that a threat?"

"I'm not the one here who _did_ somethin' already. Come on, Laura." Logan was getting to his feet and tugging on her arm.

Laura followed him out of Frost's office. "I should not be here. I am…a liability."

Logan shook his head.

Her eyebrows drew together. "If someone brings trigger scent—"

"Then it'll be the safest place, 'coz there's a lot of people here who can stop you." Logan patted her shoulder. "Kid, I hate to cut this short…but I got to run. Summers and I got to check out some reports about a lab makin' Legacy virus. Promise…we'll talk sometime. When things calm down a bit around here."

Laura looked down. "Okay."

She expected for him to say something more, but he quickly turned a corner and disappeared, making it clear that the entire conversation was over. She stood in place for a while, rubbing her elbows again. Finally, she moved, toward the bathroom. The school make finding privacy difficult, but she'd found place to cut where she could lock the doors and be alone for a while.


	9. Chapter 9 - Lost

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the reviews! Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Frost villifier, I've read quite a bit of her background. I know she's got trauma related to her students dying in the past, and how she's tried to work through them. Her focus on chasing Laura off is all her protective instinct toward her other students, it has nothing to do with a personal grudge against her. That chapter kind of brought it to a head; Logan intervened, and also it reminded Laura of trigger scent and how afraid she is of it being used. It also shows that no matter how pissed off Julian is at a friend, he puts it aside when they need help. He could tell Frost was involved since he knows she didn't want Laura there and was recently reminded of how dangerous she is (Laura's descriptions of killing Weapon X). He also knows Laura enough at this point to realize that wasn't normal for her-and he saw the fear in her face when the trigger scent was about to be involved, so he put it together and went for Logan, figuring he would know the most about Laura/do the best job at protecting her from Frost. Hope you all enjoy this chapter, thanks for the read (and hopefully the review)! :)

* * *

CHAPTER 9

 _Lost_

* * *

Laura looked up from her bed as Cessily poked her head into her and Sooraya's room.

"There you are!" The metal girl grinned. "You busy?"

"I am completing an English assignment." Sooraya turned in her chair. "Do you need something?"

"Yeah. Some company." Cessily paused. "The berries are ripe. Out behind the school. I was wondering if you ladies would like to join me in picking them?"

Laura's forehead wrinkled. "But you do not require nutrients."

"I didn't say I was picking them for me." She paused. "Come on! It's a great day and I think we could all use a little R 'n R." Her nose wrinkled. "Homework can _wait_."

Sooraya sighed, then pushed her chair away from the desk and got to her feet. "I will come for half an hour. I do not want to fall behind. My English has improved, but I sometimes…struggle for words, and my accent is noticeable."

"No it's not." Cessily grinned at Laura. "I can't hear it, can you?"

"Yes, it is quite obvious. I recognized it right away." Laura paused. "I could tell she is from Afghanistan." Another pause. "She immigrated perhaps three years ago."

Both girls stared at her. Cessily seemed shocked, suggesting that what she had said was inappropriate, but Sooraya began to smile slightly. "That is correct. Thank you for your honesty. Where are _you_ from, Laura?"

Laura hesitated, her eyebrows drawing together. She did not know, exactly, where the facility had been located. She had escaped on a skimobile. When that ran out of fuel, she had jogged for days on foot, through woods and snow, uncertain of her direction. And then she had stolen an old pickup with gas cans in the back. She had driven for a week before reaching the first town. She had not even learned its name. "North America."

Cessily glanced at Sooraya, then at Laura again. "Uh, me too. Portland, actually."

Laura looked down.

The other girl frowned, then reached out and grabbed her arm. "Come on! Let's go!"

* * *

"See—isn't this _fun?_ " Cessily grinned. "I used to pick marionberries all the time back home. Just close your eyes and feel the sun on your skin."

Laura was confused. "But you do not have skin."

Cessily sighed. "Ugh. Stop reminding me that I'm a blob of metal, already. I used to be just like _you._ Let me have this, okay?"

Laura gave Sooraya a blank look.

"She likes to pretend she is still human." The other girl paused. "I do not understand it either, but it is easier not to ask questions." She reached up and picked some berries on a high branch.

"Hey!" Cessily scowled at them, then grinned again. "I can't be mad when the sun is shining and I'm outside. I just…need a break from the _drama_ with the team, you know?"

Sooraya sighed. "Yes."

"I walked in on her fighting with David. It was so, _so_ awkward. Like, I just went to the rec room to watch some _Lost_ and find out what's going on with the Dharma initiative this week, and here Nori is whisper-screaming at him about how he's not good enough in bed anymore." She paused. "And then they had the nerve to stare at me, like _I'm_ the one who shouldn't be there."

Sooraya nodded. "I do not enjoy working with Nori. It was difficult to be her roommate. She is…very hostile and jumps to conclusions."

"Yeah." Cessily shook her head. "Then Josh snapped at me to mind my own business, when I asked him about a book he was reading. I was just trying to be friendly and he was ready to rip my head off." She paused. "And then Santo's been _so_ irritating this week, too. He's obsessed with that stupid game. I swear to god, if he says one more thing about his freakin' druid, I'm going to straight up punch him in the face."

Laura's eyebrows drew together, but no one noticed.

"Santo has been nice to me." Sooraya shrugged. "But we do not talk much."

"He told me he almost didn't come help us with Nimrod because he had an online group thing he was going to do that night." Cessily gritted her teeth. "Just imagine. He was willing to let us _die_ so he could get some imaginary hammer."

Sooraya smiled slightly. "But he did not, did he?"

"True." Cessily tugged at a branch rather violently. "I still think it was a new low for him."

"I am glad Julian has stopped trying to start fights with Nori." Sooraya's eyebrows drew together. "That was—"

"Also awkward as hell, yeah, I know." Cessily paused. "Maybe that's the answer. We should ditch all the guys and start our own team. I mean…if you think about it…they were basically useless. It was me, Nori, and Laura that beat Nimrod. David almost crashed the plane, then hid behind a cabinet…Santo got himself _killed…_ and Julian was just like standing there complaining." Pause. "Josh wasn't even _there._ "

"David told us how to defeat Nimrod." Laura frowned. "And Julian and Elixir saved my life. I do not think they are useless."

Cessily's nose wrinkled. "We would've figured it out eventually. David was just using memories, I don't think he's really all that smart." She rolled her eyes. "And maybe they wouldn't have had to save your life if they actually _helped_ in the first place."

Laura considered this. "Perhaps." Her tone was reluctant.

The metal girl grinned. "Relax, I'm joking. I know they have _some_ uses."

"Oh." Laura looked down at her container of berries, frowning. She vaguely understood the concept of jokes, but this seemed very complex, and she did not understand it.

"I just can't believe this is my life now." Cessily shook her head. "I used to have dreams, y'know? About what I'd do after school. I wanted to be a nurse. Not like _that's_ happening now."

Sooraya frowned. "Why?"

"No one wants a nurse made out of metal." Cessily paused. "When I go out now…like, farther than the village…people throw things at me."

"That is terrible." Sooraya looked at Laura. "I…have had things thrown at me before, too. But not because of my powers."

Cessily closed her eyes. Then she shook her head and looked at Laura. "Let's lighten the mood. What do you like to do for fun?"

Laura hesitated.

"You know, like…rec stuff." Pause. "I used to play lots of sports…and I was a cheerleader. I'm kind of a couch potato now, though. Do you like any TV shows?"

"No."

"Have you seen _Lost?_ " Cessily sounded eager.

Sooraya nudged Laura with her elbow. "Say yes!" she hissed.

"I—" Laura began, but Cessily grabbed her hand. " _Laura!_ You have _so_ much to catch up on. Ohmigod, wait till you see it! It's about an airplane that crashes on this weird magic island and—"

"My container is full." Sooraya held it up.

Cessily rolled her eyes. "That a hint that I'm talking too much?"

"No. An observation." The other girl paused. "I do need to return to my assignment now, though. We have been out here almost an hour."

"Alright, alright." Cessily paused. "We are so making popcorn and binge-watching. I have season one as a boxed set. Won't take you long to catch up with me. This will be amazing!"

Sooraya gave Laura a small, sympathetic frown.

* * *

Laura paused, as she followed Cessily down the hallway toward the rec room, a large bucket of popcorn in her hands. She could tell Julian was already sitting in there, along with Santo, and Josh, the TV blaring.

Cessily gripped the doorframe and leaned in. " _Ahem._ "

"Yeah?" Julian looked up at her from the couch. He was holding the remote.

"We need the TV." The metal girl paused. "To watch _Lost._ "

"So?" he asked.

Cessily's eyes narrowed. "So scram."

"We were here first." Josh spoke without looking at her.

Laura hesitated. "He is correct." She murmured this.

Cessily glared at her. "You're just cool with them hogging the TV like that? _I'm_ not!" She looked at Julian, then her hand shot into the room and grabbed the remote, ripping it out of his fingers.

"Hey!" He snapped, reaching out. Moments later, the remote was being dragged toward him, along with Cessily, who refused to let go.

"Laura, _help_ me!" she shouted.

Julian glanced up at the doorway where Laura was standing, and his eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I'm _definitely_ not letting you take over the TV now. She's way too busy." He grabbed the remote from Cessily's fingers, as she wrinkled her nose.

"Huh?" Cessily glanced back at Laura. "What's he talking about?"

Laura looked down at the bucket of popcorn, her forehead wrinkled.

Cessily turned back to Julian, her eyes narrowing too. "You better explain what you mean. And give me that remote. Or else."

"Cess, seriously, just go away." He glared at her. "I'm not in the mood to be messed with."

Cessily's hand snaked out and hit him upside the head, her other arm wrapping around the remote several times and yanking it free of his grip. "Get the _fuck_ out!" she roared.

Santo and Josh scrambled out of their seats and shoved Laura out of the way to escape.

"What the—" Julian slammed her back against the wall with his mind. The plaster cracked around her. "Just—stay out of my business, god _damn_ it Cess!" He rubbed his head, then let the metal girl go, and stormed out. He sneered at Laura as he passed.

"Hol-eeeeeee." Cessily rolled her eyes. It was hard to tell since she had no pupils, but Laura could vaguely see the movement. " _He's_ pissed at you today. Why?"

Laura hesitated. "He asked me to do a number of…activities…with him. I did not want to do those things."

Cessily stared at her. "When did he ask?"

"During the exercise." Laura paused. "Just before we fought Weapon X."

"…" Cessily closed her eyes. "What did he ask you to _do?_ "

Laura thought back. "To see a movie, to eat, and something called Club. Because Sofia liked that."

"Oh. My. God." The metal girl buried her face in her hands. "Are you…are you _serious?_ He brought up _Sofia_ while he was asking you out on a _date?!_ "

Laura frowned. She was going to ask her what a date was, but Cessily was not done.

"I kind of want to cry for him." She shook her head. "That's…tragic. I had no idea he had sunk so low. I mean…even Santo's smoother than _that._ "

Laura's forehead wrinkled. "Smoother?"

"Yeah. He could have pulled out a gun and _shot_ you, and it would've been less fatal." Cessily sighed. "I've gotta fix this. Laura, I swear, he's really not a loser…he's just lost his way. I think I know what to do, though." Pause. "Let's watch some _Lost,_ give them a chance to cool down. Then I'll take care of it, okay?"

"Okay." Laura didn't know what she was agreeing to, but Sooraya had said agreeing was easier, so that is what she did.

Cessily beamed and scooped the remote off the floor.

* * *

"I do not understand." Laura gazed at the screen as the credits rolled again, along with strange music. Her forehead wrinkled. "Where is this island? Why did the pilot of the plane die, what killed him? When—"

"No, you have to keep watching to find the answers!" Cessily sounded excited.

Several hours passed, and Laura did not receive answers to her questions. She only formed more questions, but Cessily refused to answer them. It was almost as confusing as real life, except this seemed like a pointless exercise, since the other girl could simply explain what was happening. But she seemed to be enjoying it, so she did not protest.

Then they heard Santo heading to the kitchen, his heavy, distinctive pattern of walking, and Cessily got up. "I'll be right back. _Don't move!"_ She headed out of the room, and after a moment, Laura followed, walking in a slight crouch so as to lighten her own footsteps.

"Hey, Santo." Cessily had joined him in the kitchen now.

"Don't hurt me! We gave you the TV, what the hell else do you want?"

"Oh, come _on._ I didn't hurt anyone, I was just pissed that Julian was being an ass." Pause. "But I take back my rage. His life is a hot mess and we have to fix it for him or we're just the worst friends."

"…huh?"

"He tried asking Laura out today. And she turned him down…'coz he actually brought up _Sofia_ during it."

Pause. "Aw, man."

"Yeah."

"Speaking of X…that was crazy today, at practice." Santo sounded like he was grinning. "X is amazin'. Like, I feel stupid even thinkin' about being a wrestler when she's around, y'know? I'd be so happy if I could fight like that."

"Laura _is_ amazing. And so is Julian. When he's not wallowing in a black hole of despair."

"He's not. He's just workin' through some shit." The sound of the fridge opening.

"Santo, he just asked her out in the _Danger Room._ After Frost chewed her out. And he brought up his ex. While he was literally asking her on a date, he brought up his _ex_."

Santo took a jar out of the fridge. "So?"

"So this is the same guy who took the Cuckoos to a dance— _all_ of them—and still managed to dance with Sofia. In the _air._ And leave with her. He knows better."

Pause. "Aw man. You're right."

"Of course I'm right."

"Well, he never really got Windy. I mean, we just got done with five years of watchin' him chase after her while tryin' to beat up her friends. But somehow you guys keep insistin' _I'm_ the dumb one." The fridge door closed, and Santo put some things down on the counter.

"You know we're just joking." Cessily had moved to the table. Laura could hear her metal arms go _clink!_ on the marble.

"I'd get new friends if I thought you weren't." Santo was unscrewing a lid. "It's cool. I'm tough. I can handle the love." Laura smelled peanut butter.

"Of course you can." Cessily paused. "Do you think Julian is sabotaging things? Like…could he be hung up that badly on Sofia? Or what? He tells you things."

"Nah he doesn't." Santo rustled a plastic bag. "But it'd be a stupid move on his part. X is _awesome._ Basically straight out of a fantasy. Even got the rack. If I had to do a round of 'fuck, marry, kill' between Sofia, her, and you—"

Cutlery clattered to the floor. _"SANTO!"_ she squealed.

"Aw, sorry, Cess. Forgot you're not a dude for a sec there."

"I can't believe you'd say that to _anyone!"_ Cessily's voice was muffled, like she was holding her face in her hand. "Just…oh my god. _I_ need new friends."

"Have fun with that." Santo started spreading peanut butter. Laura could hear the knife scraping over the bread.

A few moments of silence.

"Stop glarin' at me like that!"

"I wasn't. I was thinking." Cessily paused. "What if we help them?"

"Huh? What'dya mean?"

"You know, set them up. On a date." _Clink!_ as she set her elbow on the table. "Like…we could go out for dinner…then you and I split and leave them alone."

Santo made a choking noise. "You're askin' me to leave without eatin'?!"

"Oh my god." Cessily sounded exasperated. "Julian needs our help."

A moment passed. "Yeah. Guess I could eat right before we go in."

"That wouldn't tip them off _at all_." Pause. "I'll buy you a hotdog right after, how about that?"

"But I want pasta."

"I want this conversation to end." Cessily's voice was flat. "Are you in? Or out?"

"In." Santo took a bite of something. "'En 'ee doin' 'is?"

"Well…no time like the present, right?" Cessily paused. "You even just ate, so it's perfect. You'll have to trick Julian into it…I think he's busy being all butthurt about Laura turning him down. He actually sneered at her in the den earlier."

Santo swallowed. "Can do. He kinda finds it hard to stay mad around me, anyway. He gets confused, can't decide if he should be makin' fun of me or sulkin'."

"Okay. I'll need, like, an hour with Laura."

"Dude, thought you wanted to do this _now._ "

"I do! But I need to gussy her up first. Some make-up…her nails…we want to make this really _stick,_ right?" Cessily paused. "And you gotta get _him_ to wear like, a nice shirt. Laura's not going to appreciate stupid FBI one."

"Right. Okay. I'll go start workin' on him." Santo left the kitchen and headed up the stairs. Laura crept up after him, both curious about what he would say to Julian, and set on avoiding whatever Cessily had planned.

"Meet us in the foyer, in an hour!" Cessily called, going back to the den.


	10. Chapter 10 - Perform a Date

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the slight lateness in updating this, I was on vacation and as usual everything was going wrong, haha. But this is a longer chapter so hopefully that will make up a bit! I have answered most reviews via PM, and I have addressed some of the feedback within this chapter (I think). So I'll just let the characters show instead of me telling (greatest advice in English courses-show, don't tell). This chapter has canon inspiration, but is also original-that will make sense after reading. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and thanks as always for the great reviews!

PS: a shocking bit of Laura dialogue was inspired by an experience from one of my higher level anthropology classes, in which the professor announced how awkward she felt talking about a certain subject, then belted out a stunning array of facts at the top of her lungs. It was so amazing to witness. That too will make sense after reading. XD

* * *

CHAPTER 10

 _Perform a Date_

* * *

Laura was sitting behind a potted fern, listening to the conversation take place in Julian's room.

"Cess wants us to go hang out in a bit." Santo. "She has this stupid idea that we should all be friends."

"We _are_ friends." Julian's voice was flat. "I think." Pause. "Maybe not."

"Course you are." Santo paused. "We were just channel surfin,' and you _know_ how much Cess likes her some _Lost_. She might like it more than I like WWE. That's sayin' somethin'."

"Uh huh. It's not Wednesday. She was just watching old stuff. She could've _waited_."

"She was tryin' to get X into it." Santo paused again. "She wants to be friends with her, too."

"Good for her." Julian's voice was sharp.

"Dude. You used to be all about team-building. What gives?"

"Not my team anymore." Pause. "And I don't like the clone. Don't think she's worth my time."

Laura's eyebrows arched slightly. She could not say for sure, since she was not able to detect scent changes from outside of the room, but she suspected he was lying.

"X _is_ pretty goddamn creepy." Santo again, in a tone of agreement. "Kinda ugly, too. Wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole if someone paid me to."

Laura's eyebrows arched again. His voice had trembled almost imperceptibly, toward the end of his statement. A tell. Also, the content seemed to be contradicting what he had said in the kitchen a few minutes ago. Unless the _kill_ designation had been reserved for her. Why were they both lying?

"That's a little harsh _._ " Julian sounded reluctant.

"Aw, c'mon. You don't need to defend her. Just us guys here."

"She's kind of scary…yeah…and quiet…but I wouldn't say _creepy_. She just doesn't mess around." Julian hesitated. "And…she's, well, have you _seen_ her?" Pause. "I'd hit that." Another pause. "If…if I was looking to hit someone, you know. But I'm not right now. Got way too much going on."

"Thought you said she wasn't worth your time."

"…" Julian took a few moments to answer. Three, to be precise. "I meant, cause I'm busy. I, uh, I'm just not looking to get back into the game right now, you know?"

"Sure man, whatever you say." Santo shrugged. She could hear his rocks grating together. "Guess you won't care that Josh said he might ask her out."

Santo's voice was casual, but Laura detected the slight tremble again, toward the end. Her eyebrows drew together.

"What?!" Julian's voice was sharp again. "I mean—no, not at all. But he's still with smell girl, right?"

"Dunno. Guess not."

Pause.

"Whatever. I'm not interested."

"Sure. Good for you. I think all this high school drama is a waste of time anyway." Santo paused. "Anyways, you in for dinner? We're leaving in an hour, according to Cess."

"Don't really feel like it." Julian's voice was flat. "Not exactly looking to spend time with Cess right now. I had a rough day, and then she just showed up and made it worse."

"What went wrong now?"

"Just…stuff." Julian paused. "Can't control my powers anymore. Smashing things without meaning to…causing explosions…ripped out a wall earlier without meaning to…almost squished myself with my dresser. That kind of shit."

"That sucks." Santo flopped down on one of the beds. Laura could hear the springs. "It's nice to have simple powers. Not many drawbacks to bein' made of rocks."

"Dude, you broke _everything_ when you first came here."

"Yeah. Then I stopped, and life is peachy. And now I'm unvincible."

"The word is invincible, Santo."

"God dammit! That's what I meant to say." Santo sounded annoyed. "Dunno why I can't remember it…it's like my favorite word now, too."

"Sure." Julian paused. "I'll come out with you guys some other time. But not tonight."

"Dude, you can't do that to me. I can't handle that much Cess on my own. _And_ X. C'mon. It'll just be an hour or so. Then you can go back to sulking and breaking shit."

"If it's only an hour, why can't _you_ deal with it? And won't Sooraya be there, too?"

"Uh." Santo paused. "Sooraya's got homework. And Cess is going to whine the whole time about _you_ not being there. Trust me. If I were a lesser man, I'd beg you to spare me that."

"God damn it." Julian sounded frustrated. "Fine, fine, I'll come. Having friends is really _annoying_ sometimes."

"Awww. Gee, shucks." Santo paused. "Cess said to dress up a bit."

"What?! Forget it! I'm not—ugh. You know what? _Whatever_. I don't care. I'll do it, just so you guys leave me alone after."

"You're the best." Santo moved, she heard the bed creak. "So, what'd you think—"

 _"THERE_ you are!" Cessily's hand snaked out from five feet away and wrapped itself around Laura's wrist. Then she pulled, and Laura found herself being dragged down the hallway, toward the metal girl's room.

"Let go of me!" Laura demanded, her claws popping. _Snkkt!_

"No." Cessily retracted her arm very quickly, causing Laura to be thrown off balance. "Go ahead, cut me. I heal too." She gave her a direct look. "I _know_ what you were doing. You were listening in. And I realized, while I was searching for you, that you must have heard me talking with Santo. You know all about how we're setting you guys up on a date."

"I do not—" Laura began.

"What?" Cessily's eyes narrowed. "You like Julian, right? I could see it in your face earlier, in the rec room, when he sneered at you. You looked _devastated_."

Laura hesitated.

"This _will_ happen." Cessily opened the door and shoved her into her room. "You. Sit by the desk."

"I do not—" Laura tried again.

"I am _not_ standing by and watching my friends be miserable because of a dumb misunderstanding!" Cessily was already in her bathroom, pulling things out of drawers. "So just be quiet and let me put makeup on you."

Laura began to creep toward the open window, but then Cessily's arm shot out of the bathroom, over her shoulder, and slammed it shut. "Nice try!" she shouted. "But you're not preventing this." She pointed to her desk chair. " _Sit._ "

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She watched as Cessily left the bathroom with an arm full of items: tubes, brushes, pots of color and powder. "Why is this necessary?"

"Because. You want Julian to like what he sees." The metal girl set the assortment of face paints down on her desk with a loud clatter.

"Why?"

Cessily paused, in the middle of uncapping what looked like a pencil. "Um, duh…because you _like_ him, remember? We just went through that."

Laura frowned. "I like all of you."

"I don't mean like _that._ " Cessily also frowned. "You've got it for him, bad, right? Like, you want him to be your boyfriend."

Now Laura's forehead wrinkled. "He is already my friend."

Cessily lowered the pencil, her eyebrows arching. "Uh…what exactly do you know about the birds and the bees? And, like, relationships?"

Laura's blank look seemed to tell her all she needed to know.

"Oooohh boy." Cessily set the pencil down on the table and sat down on her bed. "Okay. No wonder." She paused. "You must be having an _awful_ time right now. Ummm…I'll try to explain this the way my mom did. Like, just a few years before they kicked me out of the house." She cleared her throat. "Babies are made—"

"The male of the species inserts his penis into the female's vaginal canal, and after a series of pelvic thrusts-between one to two hundred-deposits semen. In this is sperm, which travels up through the female's cervix and fallopian tubes, to meet an egg cell." Laura paused for breath. "If an egg is fertilized, it will descend to the uterus again and the zygote will implant. The process of conception varies among species. In humans, the act lasts approximately seven minutes. The gestation period that follows is approximately thirty-eight weeks—"

"Whoa." Cessily held up her hand. "Okay, okay, you know all about, uh, sex and babies. Good. That makes this easier." She hesitated. "That's kind of what dating is all about. That's how we, uh, pick out who we want to be with. You go on dates…where you spend time together and see if you're compatible. So you can see if you want to have kids someday."

Laura gave her a very serious look. "I am not prepared to have offspring."

"No!" Cessily gaped at her. "That's not what I meant at all. God, no. Just…you start getting these _feelings_ when you're a certain age. I mean, I was thirteen when I had my first kiss. I guess it's kind of…practice." She paused. "So when you _are_ ready for kids, you pick the right person to have them with."

Laura nodded slightly. This made sense. "So that you do not waste resources on inferior offspring."

Cessily hesitated. "I…guess…you could look at it like that."

Laura also hesitated. "Is a symptom of this…desire to practice…burning?"

The metal girl blinked. "Uh, _what?_ "

Laura sighed, closed her eyes. "I…occasionally…like to look at… _him._ And my face feels strange. Is that part of this, or am I defective?"

"Oh my god! _Laura!_ " Cessily grabbed her by the shoulders. "You are _not_ defective, or bad, or anything like that, okay? Yes, it's all normal. _Anything_ you feel is _normal_. We all deal with it. _All_ of us, including guys."

Laura gazed at her. "Including Julian?"

Cessily grinned. "Are you kidding? _Especially_ him. His whole time here, he's just been like on fire the whole time. I've never seen him _not_ miserable about that kind of stuff." She paused. "When he asked you out…he was trying to let you know he likes you, too. But he didn't get that you've never been asked out before. He thought you were saying you didn't like _him_ and he got all mad _._ " She shook her head. "That's why I think he's being stupid. He should've just asked you how you felt, instead of assuming."

Laura's forehead wrinkled. "Are you saying he is stupid? I should not waste time on him, then."

Cessily paused, then grinned. "I really want to say yes. But no. I promise, he's a good guy. He's always been there for me when I needed a friend. And for Sooraya, and Santo. He'd take a bullet for any of us. You too, now." She paused. "Although I guess that _would_ be stupid of him, since bullets don't actually hurt us anymore. But, y'know, the sentiment stands."

Laura wanted to ask what "sentiment" meant, but Cessily was not finished.

"Besides, this is just for fun. You might find out you don't like him after all, and that's completely okay too. It happens. I mean, there was a guy here that I used to like, a lot. But he didn't like me back…and it hurt, but I lived. I wish him well, wherever he is." She was silent for a moment, her eyebrows drawn together. Then she shook her head. "If you even _think_ you might like Julian…and he likes you…it's better to find out than wonder forever, right?"

Laura gazed at her _._ Again, Sooraya's advice came back to her: _i_ _t is easier not to ask questions_. "Right."

Cessily beamed and reached for the pencil again.

This time, Laura let her work. She offered no protest when Cessily layered paint on her fingernails, even though she found it all quite bizarre. But she trusted her friend.

* * *

Cessily and Laura finally headed downstairs, both wearing skirts from the metal girl's closet. Cessily's was black and her top was purple and frilly, while Laura's skirt was plaid and her top a simple, white button-down shirt. They were impractical clothes for fighting and other activities, but Laura remained silent.

They looked around the foyer.

"Dammit, where are they?" Cessily frowned, adjusting her hold on her small pink handbag. "They were supposed to meet us here."

"You girls going somewhere?" a high-pitched voice asked. Pixie. Laura had not interacted with her much—aside from crashing through her wall last week—but knew that her name was Megan, and that she was from Britain. Probably the Wales region. Laura's general observation of her was that she tended to expend more energy than situations required.

"Oh—err—" Cessily glanced at Laura. "No, I just gave Laura some stuff to spruce up her wardrobe—"

"Cool!" Megan grinned. "I'd give you stuff too, Laura, but you're taller than me. Hey, you know there's a meeting in the library right? Anole's deciding which of us are going to _die_ next! Do you wanna take a selfie with me?"

"…what?" Cessily raised her eyebrows.

Megan was already standing between them amidst a trail of sparkles, her phone raised, grinning up at it as she pressed a button on the screen. Then she elbowed the girls around her. "Don't look so serious, jeez! Lighten up!"

"Megan, _stop!_ Enough." Cessily reached out and pushed her phone down. "What did you say about a meeting in the library?"

Megan shrugged, her wings fluttering. "I dunno, don't ask _me._ No one tells me anything. Hey Cessily if you're just giving away stuff—"

"I'm not! Laura needed things. Laura, come _on,_ I bet that's where they went." Cessily grabbed her friend by the wrist and pulled her in the direction of the library.

Laura's eyebrows drew together as the approached the room. She could hear the other students, murmuring to each other, calling out calendar dates.

"Hey, Cessily!" A green boy named Anole was sitting at the study table, holding a pencil and a piece of paper. "When were you born?" Again, Laura did not know much about him, except that he possessed physiology similar to that of a lizard, was Santo's friend, and that he complained excessively.

The metal girl's nose wrinkled. "Not sharing _that_ with everyone."

"Okay, whatever." Anole paused. "Teachers left the school again. We're figuring out who's going to die next. It's going to be whoever is the youngest. Because they'll be the most vulnerable." He sounded certain and matter-of-fact.

Cessily rolled her eyes. "That's the dumbest thing I've heard. And I'm friends with _Santo_ , so congratulations."

"Yeah!" Santo agreed. He was standing in the back corner of the room. "Besides, some of us are invincivable _."_ He had changed into a pink shirt and some sort of plaid pants. Laura was always surprised to see that he was able to wear human clothes, since he was so large now, even larger since he had been reassembled.

Beside him stood Julian, who was folding his arms. "Santo. It's _invincible._ " He had changed, too, into a blue dress shirt that Laura had seen on a few occasions. The urge to stare at him always increased when he wore it. She leaned back against the hallway wall, her eyebrows drawing together as she gazed at him.

"Dammit!" Santo frowned. "Least I was close this time."

Cessily just shook her head. "Just put the pad down, Victor, and go do something constructive with your life. The teachers wouldn't _leave us to die._ Honestly, what's your damage?"

Victor scowled at her. "I'm _not_ damaged—"

"Nori…" David's voice rose, so it was loud enough for everyone to hear. They were standing a couple feet away, arguing. "Please. _Talk_ to me, at least. You can't—"

Nori turned her head away from him, gritting her teeth. "No, we need to _stop_ talking. I told you. We're done.I don't like you anymore. It's time for you to go."

"Nori, I know that's not true." David sighed, pushed his glasses up his nose. "You're just saying that because you think I'll get hurt. I _won't._ I can take care of myself. I still know some combat moves. And I'm smart." He paused. "Besides, it's not like I was ever truly safe, even _with_ my powers, so how's it different now?"

She shook her head. "You're not one of us anymore! You don't have to be here, risking your life for—for what? For _me?_ For a smart guy, you're so absolutely fucking stupid!"

"Wow." Julian looked over. "Damn, Ashida. I almost _like_ you now. You're totally right. On both counts."

Nori paused. Then she turned around and charged at Julian with a fierce expression, letting out a big cloud of electricity.

Laura took several steps in their direction, then came to a halt as she realized he was not being attacked. It was—it was something she had seen Debbie and her boyfriend, Desmond, the facility agent, do before. A gesture of affection. Her cousin had called it "kissing," her nose wrinkled with disgust.

For a moment, both looked startled, then Julian closed his eyes, his hands coming down to rest on her back, pulling her closer.

"What the—" Cessily dropped her purse on the floor.

Laura's knuckles itched. _Snkkt!_ She backed up, down the hallway, and ran, as fast as her feet would carry her. Anywhere.

In the distance: _thwack!_

" _Mmmph—what the HELL—Cess?! Did you just seriously hit me with your PURSE?! "_

" _JULIAN, GET YOUR ASS TO THE FRONT DOOR THIS SECOND!"_

 _"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM TODAY?! I—SANTO—YOU TOO?!"_

" _I'M SORRY MAN BUT IT'S IN YOUR BEST INTEREST!"_

Laura did not hear the rest. She had run up two flights of stairs to the single-stall bathroom on the third floor, and after slamming and locking the door behind herself, she stomped to the middle of the floor.

For a moment, she just stood there. Then she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her lined eyes. Her carefully applied lipstick. Her brushed-out hair. All things that she thought unnecessary, but had consented to in order to please Cessily. Her knuckles itched. Why had she just lied to herself? It was not just Cessily she had been trying to please. She plunged her fist right into the center of her reflection, and the surface shattered and flew everywhere, sending shards of glass and droplets of blood onto the floor and into the sink below.

Then she leaned on the edges of the fixture, breathing hard and trying to calm down. Frost had backed off for the time being, but she did not want to give her reason to try to expel her again. After a while, she flipped so her back was against the wall between the sinks, and sank down, then began to glide the tip through the skin of her wrist, being careful not to spill blood on her clothes. She needed to give them back to Cessily.

Footsteps. Then, banging at the door. "Laura! Come on! We're all ready to go!"Cessily.

Laura closed her eyes. "I do not want to go anymore."

"Yes, you do! Trust me!"

"No." Laura dug her claws deeper. "Please leave me alone."

There was a strange sound, like something melting. Then metal was seeping through the space under the door. Laura retracted her claws very quickly, her wrist healing just before Cessily reformed. The other girl took in the damage, and the blood from punching the mirror.

" _LAURA!"_ she gasped.

Laura scrambled up. "I—I did not damage your clothes."

"Oh my god, what happened?!"

Laura paused. "I do not want to talk about it."

Cessily sighed. "Well—it's just a mirror. Someone'll clean it up." She sat down on the floor opposite her, in a cross-legged position. "Are you okay? I know that was hard for you to watch—"

"I do not want to talk about it."

"You might feel better." Cessily paused. "I _know_ that didn't look good…but trust me. He doesn't like Nori that way. At all."

"I…" Laura looked down. "I think this is a bad idea. I do not understand…what is happening."

"Well, you need to learn _some time._ " Cessily reached out and patted her shoulder. "Come on. Let's go give this a chance. You might have fun. And if you don't, you can yell at me later, okay?" She grinned.

Laura hesitated. "Okay."

Cessily beamed. "Thatta girl!" She grabbed Laura's arm and hauled her out of the bathroom, and down the stairs, to where Santo and Julian were waiting. The latter of which folded his arms as they approached, his nose wrinkled.

"This is a bad idea, Cess." He glared at the metal girl. "I was having a big moment there, and you just steamrolled all over it. You need to grow up and realize that shit doesn't always turn out how _you_ think it should."

Cessily glared at him. "Uh, excuse me. I do know that. All I'm saying is…give it a _chance_."

"This isn't your business. It's between Laura and me, and she already said no. Right, Laura?" He gave her an angry look.

Laura's eyebrows drew together. Technically she _had_ said no, yet if she said so, she would confirm his question. And he looked like he might get angrier if she did not. She remained silent.

He looked at Cessily again. "See? _Stop pushing_."

The metal girl closed her eyes. "Quit complaining and start walking."

"Whatever." He sneered at her, but opened the door and stomped out.

* * *

"It's been forever since we went anywhere!" Cessily said in a very bright voice, as they headed down the road toward the village. She had insisted they go on foot despite Julian's attempts to fly them, an argument she had seemed to be losing until she turned into a stretchy blob shape that he apparently could not pick up. Now she was walking arm-in-arm with Laura, who wondered if this was meant as a gesture of friendship, or as a way to prevent her from leaving.

Probably both.

"Yeah." Santo sounded like he regretted coming. "Should do it more often."

"No, we shouldn't." Julian was still scowling. "Sooraya's _lucky._ I should've said I had homework, too."

Cessily rolled her eyes. "Stop being such a party pooper."

"Let's see how you'd like it if I broke up you and Kevin to, like, make you go out with _Santo._ "

"Hey!" Santo frowned. "You say that like I'm not a catch."

Cessily rolled her eyes. "Right. 'Cause you and Nori have liked each other forever." She shoved him lightly. "Please stop trying to sell me this bullshit, and start concentrating on what we're doing."

"Uh huh." Julian glanced over his shoulder, hearing a strange _zzzzipppp_ noise. "Wha—Nori?"

Laura could hear his pulse rate increasing. She stiffened.

"Hey!" Nori put her hands on his and Cessily's shoulders. "Can I join you guys? I should eat before my shift starts…something other than scones." She grinned, a little reluctantly. "I work just down the street from here, at the coffee shop, so it's perfect." She glanced at Julian, smiling slightly. A little nervously.

Cessily's eyes widened. For a moment, it looked like she had forgotten how to speak. " _NO!"_ she bellowed finally.

Nori flinched, surprised.

"Hellions _only!_ " Santo added.

The blue haired girl raised her eyebrows. "Sooraya's not here. And _she_ isn't a Hellion." She nodded at Laura.

Laura wanted to leave, but Cessily's arm tightened around hers.

Nori glanced at Julian again. "Besides, aren't we kind of past all that?"

"Yeah." He frowned. "Guys, we're not the Hellions anymore. I don't see why—"

"Shut up." Cessily glared at Nori. "Get lost _._ Or I'll hit _you_ with my purse, too."

"Yeah!" Santo made a fist. "I'll even give her a rock to put in it!"

Julian raised his eyebrows, then sighed, and shrugged. "Uh…sorry about them, Nori. They're all weird today…must be something in the air. Some other time?" He paused. "Maybe just you and me, to start."

Nori's eyes widened a little, then she nodded. "Um, yeah. Okay." Pause. "Well, guess I'll go get a cookie then. Stop by for coffee after, if you want. I really mean it…I think we need to do some bonding." She turned away, and was gone as quickly as she'd appeared.

Julian glared at Santo. "Cess being weird and pushy I get, but _you?_ What the hell is _your_ deal? Why would you go along with all this?"

"Uh." Santo shrugged. "I have my reasons. Uh, good reasons. Pretty sure."

Julian closed his eyes, his hands curling into fists, but he didn't comment.

The group was silent for the next few minutes. When they reached the town and entered the restaurant, Laura went last. She kept her eyes on the ground, her forehead wrinkled, her mind occupied with thoughts of regret for allowing Cessily to corner her. She should have fought harder.

The hostess smiled widely. "For four?"

"Uh huh." Cessily grinned back, a little too brightly again.

A few minutes passed, with them getting settled. Laura sat beside the window, and Santo made to sit across from her, but then he stumbled and chose the other seat. She noted that, beside her, Cessily was leaning forward, her stretched-out arms disappearing under the table, as if she had yanked on his ankle.

Julian settled down across from Laura and picked up his menu, his eyes focusing on it like it was a problem he was trying to solve. "Anyone up for cheesy bread?" His voice was flat.

"Dude _._ " Santo sounded eager to lighten the tense atmosphere. "I'm always up for cheese _anything._ "

"Sure." Cessily's tone was light.

Julian raised his eyebrows. "You're not even going to be eating it, so I don't _care_ what you think. And I don't think I would even if you did…since you don't seem to give a shit about _my_ choices."

Cessily's eyebrows drew together. Then she cleared her throat and looked at Laura, trying to smile. "So, Laura…how are you liking the school, now that you've been with us for a little while? And things are calming down a little?"

Laura's eyebrows drew together. How did Cessily define this as "calming down"? She hesitated. "I have not learned much." Except things that made life more complicated.

Julian flipped the page of his menu. His forehead was wrinkled, and he was biting his lip.

The waitress came by. "Hi! My name is Ellie, can I get you some drinks? Appetizers?"

"Diet coke for me." Cessily smiled at her.

"Coke for me." Santo's voice was flat.

"Sprite." Julian paused, his eyes flickering down her body quickly. His expression eased slightly. "And an order of cheesy bread."

Laura paused. "Water." Her voice was as flat as Santo's.

"I'll be right back out with those." Ellie smiled at them and left.

"You on a diet or something?" Julian asked Santo. "You usually order the entire kitchen as soon as someone talks to you."

Santo shrugged. "Yep."

"Couldn't you just drop some rocks or something?"

Santo shook his head. "Nah, I keep grabbin' the same amount. Dr. McCoy thought it was somethin' head related, like I need to keep my same figure or I'd be all off balance."

"That's the one perk of not being able to eat." Cessily nodded. "I never gain a pound."

"I've got both of you beat. I can eat whatever I want and it just burns off." Julian's expression had lightened, as if Cessily's comment had reminded him of something.

Cessily glanced at Laura. "What about you?"

Laura looked down, again not understanding the topic of conversation. She had heard Debbie mention diets and figures, but she had not explained in what context they mattered.

Ellie returned. "Here you go! Diet coke…" she set the drink down in front of Cessily. "Coke…" she handed this to Santo. "Water…" she passed the clear glass to Laura. "And a Sprite for you, sir." She set this down in front of Julian, with his appetizer. "You guys know what you want yet?"

"Sure. Baked spaghetti." Julian handed her his menu.

"Two Lasagnas for us." Cessily grabbed Santo's menu and passed them back to Ellie. He frowned and shook his head, like he couldn't believe what was happening.

Ellie looked at Laura. "For you?"

She looked down. "I am not hungry."

Julian stared at her, despite not having looked at her since the school. "Don't be ridiculous. You _always_ eat at a restaurant."

"Shrimp linguini for her!" Cessily blurted. "Trust me, Laura, you'll love it."

"Oh come _on_!" Santo said, exasperated. "Cess, that's my favorite dish here! Why did you make me order lasagna!"

"…" Ellie looked at him. "Would you like to change your order, sir?"

"No he does _not!_ " Cessily snapped. "We're all good here, just go and put the order in, capeesh? And whatever happens, you can't let _him_ cancel his order." She pointed at Julian.

"...okay." Ellie's eyes bulged and she left the table, mumbling to herself.

Julian raised his eyebrows. "You _know_ I'm just going to leave as soon as you do."

"Maybe." Cessily paused. "But that's up to you, isn't it?" She grabbed Santo's arm, and dragged him toward the door. "Cancel our orders!" she yelled at Ellie as they passed her. Santo looked like he wanted to cry.

"God. I'm just _so_ mad at Cess right now." Julian closed his eyes, shook his head. "I love her like a sister…but sometimes she doesn't know when to _quit._ "

Laura frowned and looked down, frustrated. It was difficult being in this situation, not knowing what was expected of her. It was a new kind of torture.

They sat in silence for a few moments. She transferred her gaze to the window.

Julian got to his feet. "Come on. I'll cancel our orders and pay for this stuff…then we can fly back." He headed for the hostesses' stanchion.

Laura did not wait for him, slipping out the door and onto the street, shaking her head. Her knuckles still itched, and now her eyes were burning. She began to walk away.

The door opened again behind her, and Julian called after her. "Hey! You're going the wrong way!"

She kept going, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets.

Footsteps, behind her. "Laura?"

She did not turn around. More footsteps, then he touched her shoulder.

He gritted his teeth. "Hey, I'm talking to you! No reason to be _rude_ on top of everything else. I'm just trying to be nice here and give you a ride home."

Laura gave him a flat look. "I would like to be alone."

His hand slid off her shoulder. "Tell me one thing, at least."

She held his gaze.

"Did you _ever_ like me?" His tone was sharp, but his expression had softened slightly.

Laura felt her face beginning to burn. For a moment, the words would not come. He had started to turn away when she finally found her voice. "Yes."

Julian stopped, then looked at her again. "Huh?"

She hesitated. "Your question."

He raised his eyebrows. "Okay. So…why did you stop liking me? What'd I do?"

"Nothing." Laura looked down.

Julian shook his head. "That's even worse. Thanks." His tone was sharp again. "God, I hate Cess. I mean, instead of getting dumped on again by you, I could've been making out with Nori right now. I've just had it with—"

Laura did not know what the term _making out_ meant, but the _with Nori_ part disturbed her. _Snkkt!_ as her claws popped out, almost against her will.

His forehead wrinkled. He glanced at her claws, then at her. "But…you said no to me."

Laura hesitated. "I…I did not understand the question." Pause. "No one has asked me to perform a date before."

Julian's forehead wrinkled. "You're _so_ weird."

She withdrew her claws with a _snakt_ , gazing at him urgently. "Perhaps."

"Why…why didn't you just _tell_ me that?" He sounded confused.

"I…" she frowned.

"Look…" he reached out and took her hands in his. "Nori's not so bad these days. And, uh, she's kind of hot." Pause. He leaned forward. "But I really, _really_ like _you._ " Pause. "Do you…do you like me?"

She hesitated, her eyes widening. "Yes."

Julian gazed at her. "Okay then."

"Okay." Her voice was serious.

A few moments passed in silence.

"Want to start over?" he asked finally.

Laura nodded.

His hands tightened slightly around hers. She felt her own pulse rate increasing.

"We're still in town. We could do something." He paused. "Just you and me."

"Okay." She eyed him. "What?"

He shrugged. "Movie?"

She wrinkled her nose. "I told you, I have gone to a movie before."

Julian hesitated, arching his eyebrows. "Do you…do you not get that movies _change?_ "

She also hesitated. "I…did not know that."

"There's lots of things to watch. It's not going to be whatever you saw before. It's a different thing every time." He paused. "Well, depending on what you're seeing. But I promise it won't be the same one."

"Oh." Laura frowned. "Okay."

"Cool." He shifted, then took a few steps backward, pulling gently on her hands. "Theater's this way."


	11. Chapter 11 - Lone Wolf Shit

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews! I PM'd Bigtedd with a suggested reading list of comics that are relevant to my stories, then I realized that other people might like to see, so I've updated my profile page to include a reading list. Hope someone finds it helpful! Also, in regards to this review: " _About David, they do need human allies and friends and teammates sure they'd have to be extraordinarily talented ones but still it almost comes off as separatism at best_ " - I personally agree with that. In the comics and how I write him, Julian has a superiority complex (most likely from his childhood, his parents didn't care about him and later disowned him/broke contact), so one of the ways he makes himself feel better/special is believing that being a mutant makes him way better than non-mutants. It's also why he's competitive and picks on people. He was getting better throughout the NXM arc, but unfortunately a lot of comic writers ignored his backstory and stopped working on his character, turned him into a sulky bully whose only dialogue was to whine about his hands. But I digress, here's the chapter, hope you all enjoy and thanks for reading! :)

* * *

CHAPTER 11

 _Lone Wolf Shit_

* * *

Laura gazed up at the screen, her nose wrinkled slightly. They had been in the theater for approximately forty-eight minutes, and she was finding the experience irritating. The main character had traveled to some region in the Far East and then sought training in what she supposed was meant to represent martial arts, but was highly inaccurate. Then he had learned his city was in danger, so he returned to try to save it…but he refused to kill. After the second instance of this, she made a soft noise of disbelief. Did he not understand his target would escape and resume his activities? But she did not say anything, this time. Earlier, when the bats had been released and she had identified the species out loud, many people had ordered her to be quiet, including Julian. One man had thrown popcorn at her. She had later eaten it.

Beside her, Julian was leaning back in his seat, his eyes fixed on the screen, forehead wrinkled. She glanced at him as she caught a hint of adrenaline in his scent. His heart was also beginning to beat faster, but there was nothing on the screen that should be eliciting such a response. It was confusing, but she knew that he did not want her to speak aloud, so instead she closed her eyes and tilted her head back against the rest.

If it were not so loud in here, she could probably sleep. As it was, she felt restless. She wished to move. Finally, she got to her feet and walked up the aisle, then slipped out the door. For a moment, she stood in the hallway, then spotted a bench.

About ten minutes later, Julian pushed the door open and looked around. "Uh…what're you doing out here?"

Laura looked up at him from where she sat. "I was not comfortable. I will wait here for you to finish."

He raised his eyebrows. "Don't like Batman?"

She hesitated. He had seemed enthusiastic about this movie choice at the ticket stand, so she knew he was enjoying it, at least, and did not want to spoil that for him. "It was… inaccurate."

"That's sometimes the point of movies." He closed the door behind himself, and moved toward her. "But it's okay. You don't have to like it."

Laura said nothing.

"What's _not_ okay is you sitting out here by yourself." He held out his hand to her. "The whole point of us, uh, dating…is for us to hang out."

Laura gazed up at him.

Julian stared at her. "Really? Still?" His voice was sharp.

She paused. "What?"

"I thought we were starting over." He folded his arms. "I keep trying to be nice to you...I opened the door for you in the lobby and you just take the one next to it…tried to get you something at concessions and you just walked off…and now, _this_."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "This?"

"I offered you a hand up and you just stared at me like I'm a piece of shit." He glared at her. "I can't imagine what the hell you would've done if I had tried anything during the movie."

She paused. There were many confusing things in what he had just said. "A hand up?"

He shook his head. "There is _no_ way you don't know what that means."

Laura looked down, but said nothing.

After a moment, he knelt in front of her, and put his hands on her knees. "I'm sorry."

"For?"

"You're so good at fighting. And you always look like you know what you're doing. Like, you could kick my ass without even _thinking_ about it." He paused, his forehead wrinkling. "I just assumed that means you know everything else. But you don't, do you?"

Laura shook her head.

"Just tell me. When you don't get stuff." He rubbed her knees lightly with his thumbs. "And I'll try not to get up in your face. Okay?"

She paused. "Get up in my face?"

"Angry." He frowned, still rubbing her knees. "What do _you_ want to do? Next?"

Laura hesitated. "I do not know."

"Okay." He paused. "Hungry now?"

"No."

"Thirsty?"

"No."

Julian paused. "Shopping?" He sounded very reluctant.

"I do not need anything." She glanced at him. "Do you?"

He looked relieved. "No. I hate shopping."

Laura frowned. "Why did you suggest it, then?"

"A lot of girls like it." He paused again. "Uh…roller skating? Dancing?"

Laura's lips pressed into a line.

"I wasn't going to bring Sof— _her_ up again!" His hands tightened slightly on her knees, then relaxed. "She's gone. I'm not wishing she was here or anything."

She tilted her head.

"Really." He paused. "I haven't thought about her in, like, two weeks. Maybe more."

Laura's nose wrinkled. "Good."

Julian grinned. "You don't like me thinking about other girls, do you?"

She arched her eyebrows. "No."

"You don't need to worry about that." He squeezed her knees again. "I'm kind of too busy trying to figure _you_ out, Laura."

She was silent, but the corners of her lips turned up slightly.

He gazed up at her. "You're beautiful."

She said nothing. Her smile faded. She knew what the word meant, but she was confused as to why he had applied it to her. She was built for efficiency in killing. Not to be aesthetically pleasing.

He swallowed, shook his head slightly. "Uh…we could go to the arcade?"

Laura had gone to an arcade in San Francisco with her cousin before, and enjoyed the experience. Megan had been impressed with how good she was at shooting games. She nodded. "Okay."

"Okay. It's only a couple minutes from here." He rose to his feet, then held out his hand again. "Take it."

This time she did.

* * *

"How the hell…" Julian sounded confused.

Laura was shooting her initials into the screen yet again, knocking her previous score down. Her initials, L.K., were the only ones on the score board anymore. She looked back at him in question.

"We've been playing for half an hour." Julian's forehead was wrinkled. "I spent thirty dollars…and I can't even get my name on the screen. How are you doing this? What's the trick?"

"There is no trick. Just observance." Laura paused. "The gun shoots three and a half millimeters north east of where you are pointing. I simply compensate for the inaccuracy."

"That's incredible." Julian paused. "You could make money off that."

Laura was silent. She had, but somehow, she knew better than to tell him this.

"Give me that. I want to try again." He held out his hand.

She gave him the gun, smiling slightly.

He paused, his fingers touching hers on the handle. "What do I get if I can knock one of your entries off the list?"

Laura's forehead wrinkled. "Get?"

"Yeah." He grinned at her, leaning forward slightly. "I should get a reward for beating you. What will you give me?"

"Why should I give you something?" She raised her eyebrows. "It is far more effective to be punished for failure."

He held her gaze. "I've really never met anyone like you before."

She said nothing.

Julian glanced down at their touching fingers, then at her again. "I want to kiss you."

"I…" Laura's forehead wrinkled. "What Nori did to you?"

"Yeah." He paused. "But I don't want to think about her right now."

She said nothing.

Julian shook his head, then put the gun back in the holder, and took a step toward her.

She took a step backward. Her eyes widened as she bumped against the side of the machine. "What—what are you doing?" she asked.

He pressed his palms against the machine, on either side of her head. "Kissing you." He leaned closer. "I hope."

She could feel his heat against her skin, and her lips parted, but she was not sure what to say. Her face had never burned this strongly. It was alarming. Her heart was starting to beat in her ears. Rapidly. And she could hear his pulse rising, too. He was closing his eyes, and she was beginning to shut hers, their lips almost making contact. Hers began to tingle. She had never been so focused on one area of her body before. She understood now why people did this.

The front door to the arcade burst open, a few feet away.

Both pulled apart, startled out of the moment. Then they looked over to see who had entered. It was Santo.

He spotted them and stomped over, then doubled over, making hard breathing noises.

"Dude—" Julian began, his tone sharp.

Santo raised one of his big hands. "Got…Cessily…couldn't stop…"

"What?" Julian glared at him. "What do you mean, "got Cessily"? What does that even mean? Just stop panting, you don't even have _lungs_ anymore."

"Someone…got…her…took Cessily away…kidnapped…" Santo straightened. "She's gone."

Julian's angry expression disappeared. "Did you try calling Frost? The teachers?"

"Dude, they're all gone except for Husk, remember? To that big fight in Genosha." Santo paused. "With that weird alien-tech guy? Why else do you think Victor was tryin' to figure out which one of us was gonna die this time? Someone _always_ dies when the teachers leave."

"God damnit." Julian closed his eyes. "What happened? With Cessily?"

Santo frowned. "We were on the road…on the way back to the school…almost there, 'bout five minutes out…I tried to fight 'em but this one chick blasted me with some kinda ray gun and it took me forever to pull myself back together. Real bitch if I ever met one." Pause. "Weird name too…heard some guy yell to her as they were shoving Cess in their van."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. The description was vague, but she had a strange feeling. "Was—was her name Kimura?"

"Yeah!" Santo frowned at her. "How'd you know?"

Laura's face paled. Then she closed her eyes and headed for the door. Her heart was racing, but now it was racing for another reason. She had always known this day would come. She had hoped she would have more time to prepare, but it seemed that she did not. She could only feel anger at herself, for not being there to protect her friend.

She had failed again.

"Wait!" Julian caught her wrist, pulling her around to face him. "Where are you going?"

"To help Cessily." Her voice was flat.

"We're _all_ going to help her." He frowned. "Together. You can't do this alone."

"No."

He gritted his teeth. "Yes."

She looked down, her eyebrows drawing together. "This…this is not your fight."

"Cessily's my friend." He paused, leaned forward. " _You're_ my friend. Your fight is my fight. I'm not letting you keep me out of this."

"You do not understand—" she began, but his face darkened, and he started moving, pulling her out of the arcade and into the street. And then they were in the air, shooting upwards like a rocket. Laura almost let out a noise of alarm. She had never moved this fast, at least, not while conscious. She could vaguely hear Santo yelling _"Wait!"_ behind them, and the sound of a large crack echoing in the street.

They were suddenly on the ground again, in the middle of the road leading up to the school. A split second later, the pavement beneath their feet made a _crunch_ sound and fractured from their impact.

"Where were they?" Julian asked her, ignoring this. "Smell it out."

Laura paused, took a few shaky steps, then bent over and heaved into the grass on the side of the road.

"Uh, sorry." He added this like an afterthought.

She wiped her mouth on the back of her arm and straightened, then moved past him and began to walk down the street, sniffing. There was nothing else for miles, just a calm, quiet country road, with no sign of an attack having taken place.

They walked for a while, Laura sniffing, Julian following her silently. Finally, they reached the gates of the school, and she turned back to him, shook her head. "I cannot trace them. There are vehicle scents…but in both directions. Six are recent scents. And none of them are unusual."

"God damn it." Julian looked frustrated. "Did I land too soon?"

Laura shook her head. "They would not have operated closer to the town." She turned and began to head toward the gate.

"What are you doing?" he demanded. She didn't answer, so he followed her into the school and up to her room, leaning against the frame and watching as she stuffed a change of clothes into a small bag. Then she dropped her skirt, and he took a step backward, his eyes widening as he took in her legs. "Uh, I'll go change too." After a moment, he turned away and headed down the hallway.

Laura realized this was her opportunity to slip away. She hurried to change into her usual clothes, which were more practical for fighting, then moved to the window and raised it, sticking her leg through.

"Hey!" Julian was back, zipping up his uniform. He reached out and pulled her back with his mind, slamming the window shut. Then he glared at her. "You were going to leave without me, weren't you?"

Laura glared back up at him from the floor, blew hair out of her face. "Yes."

He folded his arms, still looking angry.

She closed her eyes. "Julian…you cannot come with me."

"It's my choice _._ " His voice was less sharp. "No more of this lone wolf shit anymore. You're one of us now. And so is Cess."

Laura hesitated, looked up at him again. "The people who took Cessily are the ones who made me."

"What? Really?" He paused, his forehead wrinkling. "Is Kimura like, your mom or something?"

She flinched. "No. My mother is dead."

"Oh." He frowned. "Sorry."

"Stay here." Laura rose to her feet. "I can save Cessily. Alone."

"No. I'm _coming_ with you _._ " He took her hands. "Got it?"

She looked down, her eyebrows drawn together, biting her lip. She was facing a difficult decision: make Julian very upset with her, or risk his life, needlessly.

Then she paused. Perhaps it wouldn't be needless. She realized that he may able to do what she had never managed to. He could potentially kill Kimura.

"You will need to do as I say." She looked up at him again. "When I say run, you will run. When I say stop, you will stop. Do you understand?"

"Yeah." He paused. "Where to first?"

She thought. "The docks. There are people there who—"

They were air born again, the ceiling splintering into pieces in their wake. Julian saw her startled expression and grinned, his arm squeezing her waist tightly. "Yeah, that wasn't necessary. But it was _awesome._ "

The corners of her lips turned up just slightly.

A few moments later, they dipped, and Laura saw the road rushing up at them. Santo was walking back to the school ahead of them, his head hung and hands in his pockets. She almost yelped, thinking they were going to crash into them, but then they shot upwards again.

Santo was yelling, loudly. Then Laura understood what had happened: Julian had grabbed him with his field, and was now dragging him along.

She closed her eyes. This was going to be a disaster.


	12. Chapter 12 - I Am Not Batman

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews! Harbinger Of Kaos said " _Well either you will have him convinced that piece of crap Kimura must die or you can have Laura drown her as she did in the comics."_ Neither, read on XD RecklessBaka, I liked your Batman comment so much it's the title chapter. Thorber Stone, thanks for the great review again! I'll definitely answer tomorrow! I will most likely update again on Wednesday, I am doing 3 chapters this week instead of the usual 2. Hope everyone enjoys! :D

* * *

CHAPTER 12

 _I Am Not Batman_

* * *

Julian spoke first. "I think we're somewhere over Manhattan."

All three were floating in the air, in a circle, looking at each other.

Santo was glaring at him. "That was _not cool,_ dude. I almost shit a brick when you grabbed me like that."

"Wouldn't be surprised if that's what you were eating these days." Julian arched his eyebrows. "Packing on the pounds, Vaccarro _._ Really need to lay off the carbs. Even if you weren't made of rocks, I bet you'd still weigh like, four hundred pounds."

"I'm big boned!" Santo argued. "And 'scuse me if I don't enjoy spending hours in the gym moving a piece of lead around like _some_ people I know. Besides, you ever seen a scrawny wrestler?"

Julian grinned at him. "Never seen a _fat_ one, either."

Laura cleared her throat, and they both looked at her. "The docks are to the north of here. Approximately one mile."

Julian frowned. "Which way's north?"

Santo pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "It's that way, dumbass."

Laura shook her head and pointed in the opposite direction.

Julian paused. "I'm going with Laura on this one."

Santo shrugged. "Good call, man. Go with your gut."

A few moments later, they were on top of the water, approaching the wharf at a slower pace. Julian was gritting his teeth as he touched down. "Damn. Never had to work so hard _not_ to smash something. Okay—where from here?" Julian looked at Laura expectantly.

She closed her eyes. Judging by the quality of the technology—scent-scrubbers _and_ whatever gun had incapacitated Santo—the company Kimura was working for now had a large budget, and intelligence on all of their abilities. It was most probably a new branch of the facility that had made her, as she had told Julian. There were a few persons who kept themselves informed of such new businesses here in the docks. She just needed to decide who was the most likely to talk.

As if reading her mind, Santo frowned. "How we gonna get people to talk about this? We don't got money." He paused, eyed Julian. "Right?"

Julian closed his eyes, gritted his teeth. " _No,_ Santo. I _don't_ have money anymore. You _know_ my parents cut me off, so just stop asking about it. You ask me like once a week."

"Just checkin'." Santo looked at Laura. "We beatin' people up, then?"

Laura hesitated.

Julian noticed this, and his expression grew serious. "Yeah, we're just beating them up. Right, Laura?"

She closed her eyes and began walking.

"Hey!" He snapped. "You didn't agree!"

Santo shrugged and started after her, as did Julian, after a few moments.

Laura headed toward a derelict building, the sides shaggy with moss, and the roof leaky and weather beaten. She walked up to the door and knocked confidently, her other hand making a fist as her claws slowly slid out from between her knuckles. She could hear the argument inside over who would answer, with someone named Ed eventually getting the task. She waited until she heard him stick his eye against the glass before she punched her clawed fists against the wood.

"Laura!" Julian shouted behind her. He sounded upset.

She ignored him and kicked the door in, then entered. The only way to get the information was to make an impression. A strong impression. She headed right for the poker table in the center of the room and grabbed the man who ran this operation by the tie. She knew who he was, not by name, but by appearance. He worked for the Facility. He had posed as a client and made her kill for him, once, as a sort of quality assurance test. She had delivered the target's head to him.

She reached down and slid his gun out of his holster, then stuck it under his chin.

"You have until the count of three to tell me the address of the new mutant laboratory in the city. One."

The man gave her a wide-eyed look. "You can't be serious. Do you know just how _many_ labs there are?"

Laura clicked back on the safety. " _Two._ "

He stared at her. "I have no idea where it is."

"I believe you." Her eyes narrowed. " _Three_." She pulled the trigger, and his blood and brains splattered everywhere—all over the table and his companion's empty chairs, and Laura's front. He slumped to the table.

The gun was yanked from her hand. It flew to Julian's gloved fingers. He flicked the safety back on and emptied the magazine onto the floor, then turned to her, his eyebrows drawn together. "Laura…"

"He didn't have the information we need." Laura paused. "He needed to die."

"You don't get to make that call!" Julian threw the gun on the floor and ran his fingers through his hair. "You…you just shot someone execution style." He seemed very distressed.

"Yes." Laura folded her arms. "You wanted to come."

"I had no idea you were going on a _murder spree!_ " He kicked the gun away and gave her a look of cold horror. "Laura, seriously, what is your deal? It's one thing to defend us, when people come with guns to a school. It's another to do what _you_ just did." He paused. "Oh my god, you've got brains all over your front." He closed his eyes. "I feel sick."

She closed her eyes. "Go home. Please."

"No." Julian's tone was sharp. "I am _not_ leaving you out here to hurt people."

Laura glanced at him again. "I have not hurt you. Or your friends."

He shook his head. "You can't make what just happened _okay_."

"What he did was not okay. He is one of the men who helped take Cessily. I did what needed to be done." She gave him a hard look. "I am _not_ Batman."

Julian's hands formed fists. "I used to think you were just totally weird. Now I can't believe you manage to act so _normal_." He paused. "I just…I don't even know what to _do_ with this. An hour ago we were on a _date_ , playing shooter games at an arcade, and now I just watched you _murder_ someone." He paused. "I even tried to _kiss_ you. I—"

Laura sighed. "You are wasting my time. Go home, Julian."

He looked at her again, his eyebrows drawing together. "You need to clean up."

"I will wash when we are finished." She paused. "Blood is good for intimidation."

"Holy _crap!_ " Santo had reached the door, and was taking in the mess, his eyes wide. He looked at Julian. "Dude! Did _you_ do this?!"

Julian closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "No, Santo, I didn't. Why the _hell_ would you think it was me?!"

"I dunno." Santo paused and shrugged. "I guess 'cos I saw an explosion, and I know you like makin' stuff explode...?"

"…" Julian gave his friend a flat look. "Just shut up and go wait outside again."

Laura gazed at him.

Finally, he turned back to her. "No more killing!" he ground out. " _Promise me!_ No more killing! Okay?!"

She folded her arms and wrinkled her nose. "Okay."

* * *

"LAURA DO SOMETHING!" Julian shouted, staggering backward as a sword came plunging through his shield as if wasn't even there.

Laura was sitting on the edge of a windowsill, watching as he struggled with five men, all dressed in black and gold samurai armor, wielding vibranium katanas. Santo was no better off, currently scattered all over the carpet of the office, his head near her feet, mumbling curses. Her guess was that the metal upset their energy fields somehow.

She frowned. "You asked me not to get involved."

Julian jumped backward, dodging another swipe. "I DIDN'T SAY NOT TO HELP! I—" he sidestepped and jumped over another swing— "I SAID NO MORE KILLING! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HELP—AAGH!" He grabbed his arm.

Laura smelled blood. She was on her feet instantly, her claws popping with a _s_ _nkkt!_ And then she charged, running up the wall and launching herself at the figure who had cut him. One hand plunged its claws into his neck, her foot claws catching two of the beings on either side. They all made wispy sounds, and then their armor crumpled to the ground, empty. Laura started to fall as the opponent she'd leaped on disintegrated, but Julian caught her with his arms.

His forehead wrinkled. "The hell are these things?!"

"Not human." Laura frowned up at him. "I had a contact here, but I think he is mostly likely dead. We should go."

"No shit." Julian paused, set her down on her feet. "Can you, uh, deal with the last two, though? So…so no one else gets hurt by them."

She raised her eyebrows. "Are you asking me to kill?"

He scowled. "No. Like you said…they aren't even alive." He shoved her out of the way as another sword poked through his shield.

Laura shook her head. "You should not try to protect me. I heal. You do not."

"Yeah, well—" he shoved her out of the way again. "I'm not a coward, either."

She paused. "No."

He glanced at her. "So…you gonna—"

Laura sighed and charged again. A few moments later, the last of the armor tumbled to the ground, empty.

Julian dropped his shield. " _Finally_."

She walked back to him and took hold of his arm, examining the blood trickling from the cut. It was not deep, just long. She heard Julian's heart beat speeding up and she glanced up to find him gazing at her. It reminded her of the look he had given her in the arcade, but there was something else as well now. Fear? Disgust? She let go of his arm and moved to the window. "We should keep moving."

"Hang on." Julian knelt down beside Santo's head. "Having trouble putting your fat ass back together?"

"Just a bit." The latter frowned. "Give me a hand?"

A moment later, Santo reformed in a swirl of green. "Thanks. That _hurt_."

"Anytime." Julian looked at Laura, frowning. "Where to next?"

She frowned, too, and closed her eyes. "Perhaps…perhaps you should go home now. There is one last person I will try." She paused. "They will know, for certain."

Santo gaped at her. "Why didn't you freakin' _start_ with them, then?!"

Julian folded his arms. "Yeah, what gives?"

"Because it will not be easy." Laura paused. "I may get into trouble."

Santo stared at her. "You're _afraid_ of someone?"

"I'm afraid of them, now, too." Julian's arms dropped to his sides. "Who…who are they?"

"They are on the East side." She looked at him. "Fly me there. And then go home."

"Stop saying that." He glared at her. "We're all in this together. That means, we go where you go."

"Yeah!" Santo paused. "Where're we goin'?"

Laura closed her eyes. If they insisted on coming, they would need to know the risks. Particularly Julian, since—of the two—he was the only one she could damage. She looked at him again. "I may need your help."

He raised his eyebrows. " _My_ help? You mean, there's actually something you can't do?"

"It is not something I cannot do." Laura's eyebrows drew together. "It is something I might do. Please, you cannot tell _anyone_ what I am about to tell you."

Julian also hesitated, his forehead wrinkling. "Do I _want_ to know this?"

Laura started to turn away.

He grabbed her wrist. "Fine, fine, tell me."

She looked at Santo, then stretched up and whispered into Julian's ear. "There is a scent. A trigger scent. When I smell it…I go away. And when I wake up, everyone around me is dead. I am worried this man will have some of that scent." She waited a few moments, then pulled back and looked at him again.

" _What?_ " Julian was staring at her again. "You…just… _what?"_

"What?!" Santo looked at them. "What did she say?! Come on, guys! I hate bein' left out!"

Julian frowned at him. "Wait outside, you dumb rock." Before Santo could protest, he floated him out the window and shut it, leaving his friend suspended in the air. "What do you mean, 'trigger scent'?"

Laura sighed. "It is something that I smell and I—"

"Yeah, I got that." Julian paused. "But what _is_ it?" He paused. "Like…a death perfume?"

She paused. "Yes."

"Yeah, I didn't want to hear this." He rubbed his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay. So…so you want me to make sure you don't smell it."

"That may not be possible." She looked down again. "If I smell it, I need you to kill me. Break my neck. Crush me. Drop me out of the window. Or-"

"No! Laura…" he stared at her. "I'm _not_ killing you. I'm not killing _anyone._ Just stop it. We'll all go home and—"

"No!" She reached out and grabbed him by his collar. "Cessily may not have time. Trust me. I have…seen…these places."

He hesitated, then nodded. "Okay. I will."

Laura's eyebrows arched. He was lying, she could smell it. But perhaps he would change his mind in the moment she sniffed trigger scent. So she said nothing.

Julian opened the window, and they joined Santo, who was floating with folded arms.

"I hate that you can do that!" the latter snapped.

"The adults were speaking." Julian grinned. "Besides, wasn't it me who just put you back together?"

"Oh yeah." Santo thought for a second, then shrugged. "Till you guys correct me, I'm just gonna assume she was tellin' you some kinky sex thing."

"Wish it was." Julian looked at Laura again. "East side?"

She nodded.

* * *

They were mostly silent for the trip, except for a brief argument about how to access the tower. Julian wanted to check in below and avoid a fight, but Laura insisted he charge straight into their next target's office, through a wall so no one would see them coming. Santo agreed with her, loudly. Julian rolled his eyes but gave in, bring them crashing through a solid brick section of the tower's mostly glass exterior.

"OHHHH YEAHHH!" Santo yelled, as he tumbled across the floor, waving his arms.

"I _knew_ it!" Julian glared at him as he got to his feet. "Always something stupid with you!"

Laura was already up on their target's desk, grabbing him by the tie and shouting into his face. "WHERE IS THE NEW LAB?!" she demanded, her face contorted, claws at the ready.

The man smiled slightly. He had a big, heavyset frame, and wore a pale ivory-colored suit. His scalp glistened under the dim lighting.

"How you've grown." His voice was calm and drawling.

She raked her claws down his cheek. " _WHERE IS THE NEW LAB?!_ " Her hand was shaking.

Santo clapped his big hands to his face. "Dude! _Julian!_ That's—that's—"

Julian stood and looked around. His eyes widened in recognition. "HOLY _FUCK!_ "

"KINGPIN!" Santo squeaked, grabbing his friend's arm. "Oh man, we are so _dead!_ He was like level five on the Danger Room! He's like the crime boss in New York and he's gonna put out a major hit on us and we'll never be able to sleep again—"

"Santo _, shut up!_ " Julian looked at Laura. "Laura! What the—"

"BE QUIET!" She shouted over her shoulder, her claws now at the Kingpin's throat. "Tell me where the new lab is or I will create an anterior medial incision. Your intestines will spill out, and you will die slowly."

"Your confidence impresses me." Kingpin frowned slightly. "But I seem to remember…there was something that could make you falter, no?" His eyes slipped past her, to her companions.

Laura pressed her claw tips into his throat. "I will kill you before you can try anything. Tell me what I want to know, and you will live."

"That would be ironic, wouldn't it?" His eyes narrowed. "You do seem to have me at a disadvantage, little girl. But I don't take kindly to threats." His hand made a sudden movement, for something on his desk.

Kingpin was suddenly flying backward in a blur of green. He and Julian smashed through the enormous tempered glass window into the street forty stories below. Laura rushed to the window and looked out, her mouth open. She had _not_ expected this.

Julian stopped around floor thirty-five and made a fist, halting Kingpin's descent.

"Listen, I've had a really bad night!" he snapped. "And I know it's just going to get a hell of a lot worse. So let's just get this over with. Tell me where the fuck that lab is." His voice was barely shaking.

"And who are _you?_ " Kingpin asked. He sounded a little less calm than earlier.

Julian shook his head. "Not important. Come on, _out_ with it. My friend has killed, like, ten people tonight...so I've got some catching up to do."

Santo joined Laura at the window. "Holy shit!"

Laura nodded slightly.

"Interesting friend you have there." Kingpin looked up past him.

Julian wrinkled his nose. "Kill Bill, or the Kool-Aid Man?"

His captive gave him a dry look. "X-23. You know that whatever you've seen tonight is a drop in the bucket, right?"

"Probably. But—" Julian dropped the man a few feet. "—that's not what we're here to talk about, is it?"

Kingpin's eyes widened, then narrowed. Laura could smell the adrenaline he was releasing, even from all the way up on the top floor. He must be afraid of heights.

"Dude, if Julian drops him, would _he_ be Kingpin then? Santo asked.

Laura paused, her forehead wrinkling. "Perhaps."

"Hey, what happens if I _do_ drop you?" Julian asked, letting them fall a couple more feet. "Am _I_ Kingpin then? Huh?"

"Great minds, am I right?" Santo grinned and held up his hand in front of Laura.

She gazed at him for a few moments, then looked back at the scene.

His grin faded. "Awww...X...dude...you left me hangin'. _Not cool._ "

"You know what I liked a lot when I was a kid?" Julian held out his hand, causing the bigger man to bounce up and down rapidly. "Yo-yo's. I can even do _tricks._..want to see?"

"Alright, alright!" Kingpin snapped. "Just…stop. Stop! I'll tell you."

"What, really?" Julian sounded surprised.

"Yes. Just stop dropping me." The man glared at him. "You'll find the entrance at the crossing of thirty-fourth and one hundred twelfth. A manhole cover. I have no other information for you. Now, the descent had better be smooth, or I'll have every one of my employees called in to hunt your skinny asses down, you promise?"

"Pinky swear." Julian made a fist, and Kingpin shot upward, yelling curses back at him. He flew through the broken window and skidded across the carpet, then hit the metal elevator door just down the hallway with a loud _bang!_

Laura and Santo looked over their shoulders, as Kingpin struggled to sit up, then collapsed.

"Oh man. He's gonna be _so_ pissed when he wakes up again." Santo paused. "No one said my name, right?"

"Which one?" Laura asked.

"Santo." Santo paused. "God dammit."

Julian rejoined them, floating outside the window. "Let's get out of here. Fast." He was grinning.

Laura glanced at him. "You agreed the descent would be smooth."

Julian shrugged. "He said down. Not up."

The corners of her lips turned up slightly.

"Come on." He reached his hands out to her and Santo, then pulled them out of the window and into the air. "Let's go find Cess."


	13. Chapter 13 - No More Killing

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I told you three chapters this week...and then I waited forever to post the second. I realized there were parts I needed to redo. It's a long one though! I'll talk about what parts were comic-inspired in review responses, or in the next author note so I don't spoil anything. Responses: Guest, re: Fisk, you'll find most answers are in the chapters ahead (like this one), keep reading, if you are enjoying. Thorber Stone, sorry about taking a couple days with the promised update. RecklessBaka didn't get to answer in a PM yet so: Plan on seeing a lot of development on that dynamic (in terms of killing, Julian being too inexperienced and Laura being the opposite); no, Santo can't feel pain, but he's got a lot of left over reflexes from when he could (he's getting used to being unvincible y'know); Kingpin in the future? Hmm perhaps; school? Not I! I graduated last Dec, I'm happy to say. I now work full time, so I don't have an empty schedule, but I'm also not doing homework for two degrees every night, which=some writing time every day XD. All right, thanks for the reviews as always, hope you all enjoy! XD

* * *

Chapter 13

 _No More Killing_

* * *

"Why would this thing have to be in the sewer?" Santo complained loudly.

Laura looked at him. "Stop complaining."

"I'm not!" He frowned. "Besides, shouldn't _you_ be even more put out? You got, like, that super-nose thing."

"Yes." She sank down to the ground and slipped into the hole.

Julian followed her, plugging his own nose and lighting his fist up so they could see. The walls were dripping with slime, and looked very old.

Behind him, Santo landed on the concrete with a loud _boom!_

"Jesus." Julian's tone was nasally. He turned around and glared at his friend. "Seriously. Could you _be_ any louder?"

"Hey! _You're_ the telekinetic here! You coulda made that smoother and you know it!" Santo glared at him, then glanced around at his new surroundings. "Damnit. An _abandoned_ sewer. Of _course._ It's gotta smell so bad in here."

Julian paused. "You can't even _smell it_ and you're whining?"

"Well, yeah." Santo looked grumpy. "It's the thought of it that bugs me."

"You're literally the most annoying—" Julian began, letting go of his nose as his voice got louder.

Laura frowned. "Please. Be quiet."

He sighed, then made a face. "God, why did I _do_ that? I'm going to need a neti pot of _fire_ to clean the ancient sewer stank out of my skull." He glared at Santo. "Thank you."

"Anytime." Santo grinned back at him.

Laura gave them a serious look. "You both _need_ to be _quiet_."

Julian closed his eyes and shook his head, but said nothing more.

* * *

They walked for about twenty minutes, Julian and Santo intermittently breaking the silence to swear (in hushed whispers) as they encountered everything from piles of rat corpses to a decomposing human skeleton. Laura stopped suddenly, and Julian almost ran into her.

"What the—" he began.

"Light that corner." She pointed to a small alcove on the right.

He reached out as directed, and gasped as there was a brilliant silvery flash: a round metal door, just above a walkway.

The door resisted at first, but obviously was not built to withstand a telekinetic. It ripped right off, along with part of the wall around it, and he almost fell into the sewage in surprise. Laura caught him just in time, grabbing his wrist as he stumbled past.

" _Dude._ " Santo gaped at him. "You almost just fell into the river of shit!"

"I would've let myself die." Julian's voice was flat. "There'd just be no point in going on after that. I'd never get the smell out."

Laura's eyes narrowed.

"Sorry X." Santo paused. "We can't help bein' noisy. It's who we are."

She closed her eyes, but turned and crawled through the remaining amount of tunnel.

The two boys looked at each other, then followed, Julian cutting in front of Santo with a rude smirk.

On the other side of the tunnel, Laura found a large, long steel-walled hallway, similar to the one from the Weapon X simulation in the Danger Room. The tunnel was situated several feet above the floor, so she jumped down soundlessly, then looked over her shoulder at Julian, who was shortly behind. Her eyebrows drew together. Now that the moment had arrived, she found herself hesitating again. She rose to her feet and gazed at him. "Please. Stay here."

He shook his head. "I'm coming with you." His blue eyes were firm.

Laura's lips pressed into a line.

"Whatever's in there has to be a thousand times better than out here." Santo was still at the other end of the tunnel.

"Remember that." She paused. "And Julian…remember what I asked you to do."

Julian wrinkled his nose. "I don't even know what it looks like."

"Green." She began to walk down the hallway, her shoulders very square.

He scrambled to follow, jumping out of the tunnel about ten seconds later. He was just starting to walk after her when he heard it.

"I'm stuck!" Santo yelped.

"Oh c'mon." Julian rolled his eyes. "Dude…you could you disassemble yourself."

"But what if I can't put myself back together?!"

"I'm right here."

"Oh. Right."

There was a crumbling noise, then Julian reached out and swept the rocks out of the tunnel, whirling his hand to reassemble his friend beside him. "You've got to learn to do this. Otherwise you're just holding yourself back."

"I'll do it when I'm back at the school and not in Murderlabs Inc." Santo shot back

"Fair point." Julian looked after Laura, who was already at the end of the entrance hallway. "She is _not_ stopping."

"Nope." Santo started after her. "What you waitin' for, slowpoke?"

"…" Julian shook his head and followed.

Around the corner was another hallway, almost identical to the first, except it was lined with doorway after doorway. Each was outfitted with a sliding door controlled by a keypad, but they all stood open, the inside rooms dark and ominous.

Laura glanced at her companions, then entered the first one, her expression terse. Her eyes adjusted to the dark quickly and took in metal trays full of clean surgical tools, steel gurneys with folded paper sheets, and overhead surgical lamps. But there were no bodies that she could see, and no smells except the sterile scent of cleaning agents, which either meant this laboratory was very new, or that they were too late.

Julian and Santo entered, and the light from the former's fist nearly blinded her as it glinted off all the metal.

"Dude!" Santo exclaimed, then bumped into a tray full of metal instruments. _CRASH!_

Laura gave him a dull look. It was pointless to ask him again to be quiet. Any element of surprise they might have was long gone.

"This is _sick!"_ Julian wrinkled his nose and looked at her. "What the hell _is_ this place?! What are they _doing_ in this place?" He picked up a scalpel, then dropped it back in the top pan with a loud _clink,_ shuddering.

"It is an experimental laboratory."

"I can see that. But…how are they being allowed to operate?" Julian touched one of the gurneys. "This is all—"

"Doubt they're big on followin' the law, Jules." Santo's voice was grim. "I heard about places like this from one a' my cousins. They chop mutants up an' try to figure out what makes 'em tick."

Julian looked at Laura again, his forehead wrinkled. "Is that true?"

"Yes." She paused. "Cessily is not here. We need to keep moving."

* * *

"How many of these rooms _are_ there?" Julian mumbled, as they entered the twelfth examination room. They were all identical, right down to the positions of the scalpels.

The thirteenth room was not remarkable in the least, no different in its layout or content from what she could see outside. She leaned into the doorway and was met by a solid punch to her nose that snapped her head back and sent her flying into the wall behind with a loud _smack!_ sound.

"Hiya, clone!" Kimura bellowed as she stepped out of the darkness. "Just as _nosy_ as ever, I see."

Laura slid down the wall, her nose finally regaining its natural shape. She wiped the blood away and looked up, trying to remain calm. "Kimura." She had not been able to smell or hear her, even before the attack. She must have some sort of new technology that masked her sensory output.

"That's her!" Santo roared, as he and Julian ran up to meet them. "She's the one who—"

Kimura yanked a gun out of her belt and shot Santo, without even looking. He exploded into a cloud of rubble.

Julian barely shielded himself in time to avoid being knocked out by the pieces.

"X." The woman looked down at her, sneering. "You know how much hot water I got into, letting a _fifteen-year-old_ slip through my fingers in San Fran?"

Laura's eyes narrowed. She had realized long ago that Kimura had no reason to hate her in particular, other than she could hurt her over and over again without leaving a mark. Kimura liked the scent of blood. The rush of defeating her. Most of all, she liked the feeling of control. Her hatred was for someone else, someone who she couldn't get to anymore. And that was why she would never stop. She needed to _be_ stopped. Now.

Her handler put her hands on her hips. "Let's see. Harkins said I could have you all to myself. What do I want to do first?" She pretended to think, then leaned forward. "Let's start small." In a split second, her hand had gone from her utility belt to being wrapped around the hilt of a hunting knife—the sharp end of which was buried in Laura's chest. She began hauling it upward, amid the sound of snapping bones. Blood rushed up Laura's throat and spilled out of the sides of her mouth.

Julian swept Kimura off of her and up against the wall with his mind, his hand on her throat. " _Big_ mistake."

"What?" Kimura looked down at him, then slowly started smiling. "Oh, _X_. You didn't tell me you _met_ someone. Oh my gosh, he's _so cute!_ "

"Julian…" Laura groaned. She wrapped her hands around the hilt and pulled the knife out, slowly, trying not to cause herself more damage. "Please. Kill her. Now."

He glanced over his shoulder at her, his forehead wrinkling. "Laura?"

Laura closed her eyes. "You need to—"

His eyebrows drew together. "No. No more killing. Remember? We're better than—"

Kimura grinned. "You two have some _major_ issues. I mean, you do know she's been killing since she was a toddler, right?"

Julian looked up at her, just as she clapped something into his ears. He let go instantly, staggering backwards and hit the back wall, then grabbed his head, wincing in pain.

Laura scrambled toward him, trying to assist, but her handler grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her backward, flinging her into the wall with a _Crack!_ She slid down, and found she could not move. Her spine had shattered. She was paralyzed.

Kimura grabbed her knife again. "Want something to remember him by?"

"No…" Laura gritted her teeth, knowing it would take a few moments to heal. In Kimura's hands, a few moments could be fatal.

"This is between us now." Kimura moved toward Julian, who was still slumped against the wall, his eyes closed. She then knelt down and slid the point of the knife under his chin. "Rather, your _brain_ and me. I know Harkins wants one like yours to play with. Doesn't need the rest, though." A drop of his blood ran down the blade.

"…nngnn…" Laura tried to flex her fingers. No response.

"But where to start cutting?" Kimura paused. "Or do I even _need_ the knife? It'd be just as fun to stick my fingers through your _skull_ and just rip it out, you know?" The blade clattered to the concrete floor with a _clang!_

Laura's spine finished knitting itself back together, and she could move again. She gathered herself immediately, and cast her eyes around. She saw the discarded devices that Kimura had used on him earlier, and reached toward one. Kimura heard her moving and kicked her fingers away. "Oh no you don't, clone!" she snapped. "I'll deal with you later—I have _big plans—_ but right now, stay the fuck out of the way."

Julian slammed her handler back against the wall with his mind again, this time hard enough to dent the steel. "No, _you_ stay the fuck out of the way!" he hissed, his glowing green eyes narrowing.

Laura rose to her feet and laid her hand on his shoulder. "Please. Kill her. Create a pocket of air, in her brain. Or her heart."

"The head or the heart, huh?" Kimura grinned down at them. "Same choices I gave that cousinof yours…what was her name? Megan?" Pause. "Sorry X. Men'll only let you dow—"

Julian gathered his fingers into a fist slowly, and with a loud screeching sound, the wall buckled inward, wrapping around Kimura. Whatever else she was going to say was muffled by the steel. He let go. "That should hold her." He sounded smug.

"This is a mistake." Laura paused. "You need to end it. You are the only one I have met who is capable. She is indestructible. She is…" she closed her eyes. "She is a monster. Please…she…she has to die." Her voice broke.

Julian gazed at her, his forehead wrinkled. "No. She's just a person. I'm not killing anyone. I've had _enough_ death. I'm not going to be as bad as the people who killed my friends." He paused. "We're getting Cess, and then we're walking out of here with our hands clean. Or at least I am. Got it?"

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "She would kill _me_ if she could." She hesitated, sensing that there was more she could say. But what? What, exactly, would make him agree that Kimura needed to be eliminated? Not the punishments. Julian would not care about _those_ since she healed, and since—at times—she had deserved them. Kimura's casual use of trigger scent, perhaps? Or her involvement in its creation?

"And she can't." Julian shook his head slightly. "Case closed, Laura. End of conversation." He turned away and whirled his hand in the air, helping Santo to scrape himself back together.

"But—" Laura began again.

"Thanks." Santo glanced at her, and frowned. "Sorry, X. Don't think he's gonna listen."

Julian was already heading down the hallway.

Laura closed her eyes, then followed, trying not to heed Kimura's muffled profanities. Or her instincts, either.

* * *

"This place just goes on forever, don't it?" Santo asked, dropping the soldiers he was holding to the floor, having banged their heads together.

"Seems that way." Julian glanced at Laura, his expression full of disapproval as he noticed blood on the floor where she had been fighting. "Are you sure Kingpin sent us to the right place? We've been here for like twenty minutes, with no sign of Cess."

"Yes." Laura paused. "Actually, I am concerned that this has been too easy."

Santo sputtered. "What?! _Easy?!_ We've been wanderin' around in this place forever, fightin', and I'm tired and hungry! If we don't find Cess soon, I'm gonna—"

Julian held up his hand, his gaze fixed on her, his forehead wrinkled. "What do you mean?"

"That it may be a trap." Laura hesitated. "The fight with Kimura was far too easy. I have never defeated her before. I have only managed to distract her, and run far enough away."

"Well, you're not alone anymore." Julian paused, grinned slightly. "You're with _us_ now, and we're good at kicking ass."

"Yeah!" Santo added.

"What do you mean, _yeah?_ You weren't even involved!" Julian rolled his eyes, then saw that Laura looked irritated.

"No. Kimura would not give up, when we are still in the vicinity." She folded her arms.

"You and Kimura again." He sighed. "Give me a break. I dealt with her."

"You do not understand." Laura paused. "The fight with Kimura was too easy. And there are _far_ too few soldiers. Given this level of facility funding, there should be more. Perhaps a hundred. We have encountered twenty."

Julian folded his arms too. "So?"

" _And_ the encounter with Kingpin." She hesitated. "We should not been able to enter the tower in the first place."

"Laura, relax. You're just _looking_ for problems now."

"Fisk did not falter when I held my claws to his throat." She paused. "Do you believe he was actually afraid of you?"

Julian hesitated. "What are you saying?"

"That this is a trap."

All three were silent for a few moments.

"Hate to say it, dude, but X has a point." Santo frowned. "I mean, Kingpin _was_ a level five boss on the Danger Room. We were a squad for what—two years—and we only ever got to level _six?_ And you took him out solo?"

"Dude, I was flying at like mach—" Julian paused. " _Really_ fast. No one can stop me."

"Kimura stopped you."

He looked at Laura. " _You_ stop _,_ okay? I get that you don't like her. I know she hurt you. But I got dealt with her, and—"

"Dude, that's not what she was sayin'." Santo hesitated. "She's pointin' out that if Kimura stopped you that easy, Fisk sure as hell coulda."

Julian paused. "Well, if this is all a trap, what do you propose we do now? Go back?" He looked at Laura again.

She closed her eyes. "No. We need to be prepared."

Julian shook his head. "Come on, guys." He started walking again.

* * *

Ten minutes passed, filled with more hallways, and several more under-armed combatants. Then Laura caught a whiff of mercury, and she charged ahead, Julian and Santo following her closely. At the end of the hallway was another small group of soldiers, each standing ready to fight. Laura popped her claws— _snkkt!_ —but Julian pushed her aside. "We've got this."

She watched with folded arms. He and Santo did seem to manage the fight well, but she was concerned about these men being left alive. Why did they not see the necessity of stopping their opponents permanently? Julian's statement about his dead friends had not made sense. Why would that prevent him from killing people who worked for the facility?

"Oh, thank god!" Cessily babbled as he ripped the metal grid-door off of her small cell. Her voice was hoarse, and there was something different about her. She was…smaller. They had done something to her.

Laura watched as they embraced, sniffing the air. She smelled electricity. Ionization. They had extracted metal ions from Cessily's body. A lot of them. Her eyebrows drew together. What would they be doing with organic mercury?

"C'mere." Santo gave her a large hug as well, patting her back. "Had us worried."

Cessily started to sob.

"Hey, it's okay." Julian rubbed her back, his voice soothing. "You're good. You're safe now. We're just going to walk out of here, okay? And we'll go home. "

Cessily looked at Laura. Her eyes looked sunken. "I am so, so, _so_ sorry."

Laura raised her eyebrows. "For?"

"You grew up here. Kimura told me. What she did to you…she's sick…" The other girl began to shake. "You...they're monsters…please don't let them hurt me again…I didn't know anything could hurt that much…I thought…I thought I was dead…" her voice trailed off into a whisper.

Santo patted her shoulder, looking disturbed.

"We won't let them hurt you again." Julian looked up at the ceiling, his eyes turning green. His eye brows drew together. A few moments later, he let out a breath, like he'd been lifting something heavy. "No, that's…that's not moving. Damn." He was silent for a moment, then shrugged. "Back the way we came. Come on guys, move out. Laura, whatever you do…protect Cess. She's had enough for one day."

Laura looked at him, but said nothing.

* * *

They had barely reentered the hallway when it began. The wave of metal creatures, vaguely canine, took them by surprise, attacking Julian first. He didn't even have time to raise a shield before one of them ripped a chunk out of his shoulder, and then Laura lost track of him as he was swept away by the oncoming rush. Cessily also disappeared among the fray, leaving only Laura and Santo able to fight.

"I got the ten on this side!" Santo yelled. "You get the other hundred on the right!"

"That is improbable." Laura swiped as a creature lunged at her throat.

"Aw c'mon X! Jokes lighten the mood!" He brought his fists down on another creature's head as it leapt, and it fell at his feet, twitching.

Then he grabbed another attacker that was gnawing on his head by the neck and swung it around, directly into Laura's claws. It whimpered and sagged. He grinned, slamming his fist into another creature as it pounced at him from the side. "COOL! What're we gonna call our combo?!"

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Combo?"

"I vote stoneclaw. But if you got a better idea, spit it out!" Santo paused. "Hey, you seen Julian around anywhere? He's kinda squishy and I'm worried."

"He was bitten and then he disappeared." Laura was in the middle of a handstand, scissor-kicking two creatures in the heads.

"After all that talk about what a badass he is." Santo shook his head, kicking a smaller creature above the fray. "Guess we'd better find him. Fastball special?"

"What is that?" Laura stabbed her foot claw through a creature's eye socket, and it sagged. She swung its body into the next attacker.

"A _real_ combo. Here!" Santo grabbed her by the waist, swung her back, then hurled her down the hallway over the creatures' heads. She curled into a ball, then landed on her feet, trying to smell anything beyond the scent of mercury. Or see anything besides metal. Just how much mercury had they extracted from Cessily? Or had they found a way to replicate it, already?

There were forty, maybe fifty assailants by her count. With more coming. They were not large, but they were fast, and they seemed to regenerate as soon as her claws entered their flesh, unless she managed to penetrate their brains with her claws. And their teeth were sharp. She found herself at the heart of a knot of teeth, being shredded to pieces. In the distance, Santo was sinking beneath a similar whirl of metal, his rocks growing smaller as they were chipped away. Laura had that same odd thought that had occurred to her during their battle against Nimrod. There was no way out.

They were losing.

Then something grabbed her hand. Fingers. Julian's. He pulled her down the hallway and ripped a big door at the end open with his mind, then slammed it shut. And locked it.

He leaned back against the door, closing his eyes and breathing, hard. "Just...gotta rest a sec…then we…go back…"

A quick visual examination showed the main sources of all the blood on his face was the gash near his hairline, and the blood on his body was from his shoulder. He was wrapping his hand around his arm, just under the wound, and wincing. He had other bite marks, on his legs and on his side, but they were not nearly as serious. She was concerned by his sluggish, skipping heartbeat and his pallor, which was quite pale in the areas not stained red. And by the hint of white she could see in the wound. It was deep.

"We need to bind that." Laura thought for a moment. "Give me your belt."

Julian started to struggle to undo it one-handed. With an impatient sigh, she helped him and soon had it strapped around his shoulder in a makeshift tourniquet.

She frowned. "That should slow the bleeding. But not stop it. The wound is awkwardly placed."

"Hurts like hell." He gritted his teeth. "But we have to go back. Santo and Cess are still out there…we have to…"

"I will go back for them. Later. Once you are safe."

"No—"

"Yes." Laura gave him a firm look. "They will survive. You will not, if you return there."

Julian gazed at her. "W-what about you?"

She hesitated. "I don't know."

He looked down, frowning. "Laura…I'm sorry I…didn't believe you…"

Laura closed her eyes. "You should have stayed at the school."

Julian shook his head. "You were right…it was a trap…but no…you shouldn't have to walk into it…alone." He reached out for her hand awkwardly, gritting his teeth as he shifted his body to do so. His fingers brushed hers, and for a moment she wondered why he would cause himself needless pain. Then she slipped her fingers between his.

A few moments passed. He looked up at her. "Did you—Cess said—you grew up here? This is your home?"

Her face hardened. "This particular location was not my home. But yes. I grew up in a place like this."

"Oh." He paused, his eyebrows drawing together. "Well…you're amazing…then. I've been here…half an hour…and I think I'm dying."

The corners of Laura's lips tilted upward, just slightly.

"…you know that right…" his eyes were beginning to close. "That I…think you're…Laura I…might be falling…for…" he sagged against the wall, and she ducked her head under his uninjured arm and took his weight onto her shoulders, prepared to carry him up the next hallway, to find a room with a door she could leave him in while she went back to find Cessily and Santo. The moment she opened this door, the creatures would flood the room they were currently in.

There was a soft sound, up ahead. _Clap, clap, clap._

She froze, tilting her head upward as much as she could under his arm.

Kimura was in the hallway ahead, clapping slightly and grinning. " _Clone_. I'm impressed. This guy is like a walking cliché. Where'd you find him?"

Laura swallowed, her eyebrows drawing together. "Please…he is not a part of this…do not hurt him."

"You _know_ I can't promise that." Kimura paused. "But you're right about one thing at least. He's _not_ part of this." Her grin faded, and gave way to a look of pure hatred. "You and I are going to have some long overdue one-on-one time. I even have a new toy to introduce you to. But first…"

She whipped out a handgun.

Laura threw Julian against the wall as hard as she could and charged toward Kimura as she squeezed the trigger, knowing it would only take one bullet to finish him off.

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_

But to her surprise, Kimura had never been aiming for him at all. She had been aiming for Laura's head, and her bullets found their mark, almost in a circular pattern. Laura's last few steps were staggered, and then she dropped to the floor.

Everything went white for a while.

* * *

Sometime later, she knew that she was in a big metal room. The first thing she became aware of was the drain in the floor, beneath her bare toes. The second was that she was chained up to the ceiling by her wrist, which was enclosed in a handcuff. The third was that she felt very, very groggy.

There was an arm lying nearby, detached at the shoulder joint. Blood was seeping down from it slowly, into the drain. There was something familiar about it. She tried to focus. Oh, of course. It was hers. She recognized the fingernail paint Cessily had applied earlier that day.

"Welcome back." Kimura squeezed her cheeks in between her fingers, moved her face towards her. Laura saw that her other hand was holding a chain saw, the tip of which was resting on the floor. The blade and chain were covered with blood.

"Wha..." her eyes slid shut. "Whadd…" Something was wrong. It was hard to think.

"I finally found a way to turn off that healing factor of yours. Carbonadium." Kimura tilted her head. "Levelled the playing field a bit, don't you think?" Her voice was quiet. "Maybe now you'll understand what _pain_ is, you little monster."

Laura shook her head slightly. "Donnn…t…"

"You're just a machine." Kimura looked down at her chainsaw. "Like this. I pull the chain, it cuts what I aim it at. I know that. It's the guns-kill-people, people-kill-people argument. But you can't get at the people behind the gun if you don't get rid of the gun first. _Look at me."_

"Uh?" Laura forced her eyes open.

Kimura glared at her. "Harkins wants you alive. But you could die _now,_ understand? I found a way. If you ever fucking dare to disobey me again…"

Laura looked down at her arm on the floor, her eyebrows drawing together. It wasn't growing back. She felt nauseous. Her side was wet. Bleeding. Blood, everywhere. Kimura's voice was fading in and out. "…monster…pieces…pay…" She was revving the chain saw again.

She turned her head away and shook it, gritting her teeth. That's when the first bullet suddenly popped out of her skull, landing with a tiny _ping!_ on the metal floor.

Followed by another. _Ping! Ping!_

The room came into sudden, sharp focus. She took a deep breath as Kimura brought the chainsaw toward her, lifted up against the chain, and swung into her as hard as she could with her feet—catching her off balance and sending her crashing backwards.

She looked up at the chains holding her hand. The cuffs were adamantium, for sure. She sighed, then flipped around, popped the claw in her foot and drew it across her arm. A few moments later she was sliding to the floor. Her hand landed on top of her. She had moments to gather the pieces and slide across the floor, using the blood as lubrication. Kimura was coming for her again. She needed to escape long enough to reassemble herself. And find the others. She slammed the door shut with her foot on the keypad, then stabbed her foot claw into the wires to lock it. She heard Kimura roar something inside, and rev up the chainsaw.

Laura fumbled to press her hand against her wrist. The cells bonded almost immediately, and she was able to flex the fingers. She tried her arm next, but it would not take. She did not have time to process this. Kimura was coming. She would break down the door in no time. She scrambled to her feet, still holding the arm, and ran down the hallway.

* * *

The metal creatures were gone, but now there were many, _many_ soldiers, armored with black twill garments, Kevlar chest pieces and face-shield helmets, holdng AR-40's, but Laura knew they were there not to stop her. Adamantium protective gear was expensive and the facility did not care enough about their lives to equip them properly to fight her. They were here to slow her down. Make her work to reach whatever she was fighting toward. Probably her friends. They knew, now, that she did not want them to die.

Laura was at a disadvantage with only one arm, but she had no choice. So she fought her way down the crowded hallways, her ears ringing with deafening sound of machine gunfire echoing off the steel walls. She tried to utilize her foot claws more than she normally would, with flying scissor kicks and spins. After each charge, each group of enemies she killed, the air filled with a red mist, through which she later walked to retrieve her arm. Even if she could not reattach it, she would need to reimplant the claws later. She did not want to lose the adamantium. As she walked, the bullets popped out of her abdomen and hit the concrete with a gentle _tink tink tink_ sound. Like metal rain.

She was beginning to see double by the time she reached the room in which she and Julian had been when Kimura shot her. The floor was spotted with blood, both hers and his. Her eyebrows drew together, then she shook her head. _Focus._ She knelt, trying to lock onto his scent, then rose again and followed it down another hallway leading from the room. There was a blood smear on the floor, not heavy but present nonetheless. He had been dragged, meaning he was unconscious.

When she finally reached the end, she found Julian, alone in a room.

Floating in a big tank of fluid.

 _Green_ fluid. The glass surface was stamped TRIGGER 42.

Laura froze, her eyes widening. She dropped her arm on the floor. _Thump!_

He was wearing a mask, obviously still alive. She could see bubbles floating up to the surface. But she knew that would change the moment she tried to free him. She had no doubt about that. She moved to the tank, pressing her fingers against the glass for a moment, her chin trembling. He was unconscious, and there was something on his head. A metal band, around his forehead. Vibranium.

"Ready to negotiate terms?"

Laura turned around to see a man in the doorway, his arms folded. He looked quite ordinary, with sandy blonde hair, round glasses, and a pleasant smile. A tag on his coat read _Harkins._ The man Kimura had mentioned. He must have taken over for Xander Rice.

"I…" she looked down. "Negotiate?"

"Yes." Harkins paused. "We want you back."

She raised her eyes again. "You would let him go?"

"Of course." He shrugged. "I'm not Dr. Rice. I don't bring my personal issues into work. Not that I really have any…but, you know." He unfolded his arms, took a few steps into the room. "I know we'll never manage to keep you here if you're not a willing participant. You were designed too well for that." Pause. "Rice failed to see the benefit of allowing you to develop a sense of self."

She waited, eyeing him warily.

"The self forms attachments, as a part of its creation. The fear of losing those attachments runs deeply, since in essence, it would lose a part of itself in the process." Harkins paused. "So Rice's failure is actually my gain. Do we have a deal?"

Laura hesitated.

Harkins pulled a radio transceiver out of his pocket. "Harkins paging. Turn off the oxygen. Over." He paused. "Eyes on the tank, X-23. You won't want to miss it."

She whipped around to see that the bubbles drifting up from Julian's mask had stopped. A moment later, his eyes flew open, and he began to make choking noises. And to squirm. He was probably trying to grab for his throat, but his hands were bound behind his back.

Her eyebrows drew together. "Stop it. Please."

"Not quite the magic word I'm looking for." Harkins grinned. "Do we have a deal? Yes, and he walks free. No, and he dies right now."

Laura stared at Julian as his face began to turn a purple hue. And yet, if she did anything to try and save him, she would be the one to kill him. In an instant. They must have scrubbed the area impeccably after submerging him. It took only a single drop.

She closed her eyes. "I…Yes."

Harkins nodded. "Good. Excellent. But…" he gave her a serious look. "I'll need you to _promise._ No escaping. I'll let them go, but I'll know where they are. At all times. If you try anything…if you even _think_ about trying anything…the deal is dissolved. I got them here once before, I can do it again."

"I will not try to escape." Laura looked at Julian again, and saw that his face was a darker shade now. "Please. Give him air."

Harkins pressed the button on his transceiver. "Turn the oxygen back on. Over."

She watched as the bubbles began to swirl around Julian's face again. His eyes slid half-closed, and the color faded from his skin as he began to breathe. Then she realized that this was the last time she would see him. She studied his face, trying to fix it in her mind. His thick eyelashes, the light dusting of freckles on his nose, the way his eyebrows arched when he was unconscious. Despite his naivety, and their many differences, she was not ready for this goodbye. She pressed her fingers against the glass again, biting her lip. Hard.

His eyes flew open, and he stared at her, then started to shake his head from side to side. "Mmm-mmmmph! Mmm- _mmmmph!"_

She closed her eyes, and turned away, her fingers sliding down the glass, then away. "I am ready."

"It doesn't matter whether you're ready or not, X-23. _We'll_ tell you when you're ready." Harkins paused. "Kimura, take her to her cell."

Kimura leaned into the room. "She actually took the bait? Oh, _clone._ I'm almost disappointed. After that daring escape attempt and everything." She smacked her hand into her fist. "I bet even _Sarah_ would beat your ass."

"Never underestimate the power of teenage hormones." Harkins paused. "You don't need to beat the shit out of her just yet." His tone was mild. "Take her to medical, get the arm fixed or whatever. I don't really know how Rice had regen set up…we'll have to pull out the old files. And probably training and deprogramming...god, so much to do."

Kimura paused. "Please tell me I get to kill the kid. Or rip his brain out, at least." Her eyes widened. "Or better yet, get _X_ to do it!"

Harkins laughed. "Nah. I'm getting a few guys to round the kids up and dump them somewhere. The rock kid is literally in a vacuum, so that should be fun."

"We're actually letting them go?" Kimura raised her eyebrows. "Thought you said wanted a telekinetic."

"It's on my wish list, yes." He shrugged. "But we need the leverage more." He patted Kimura on the shoulder. "Go easy on her. Remember, you have the rest of your unnaturally long life to teach her a lesson." He walked out of the room, speaking into his transceiver again. "Regen…we have a three-oh-one…"

"Come here, clone!" Kimura ordered, folding her arms.

This time, Laura obeyed.


	14. Chapter 14 - The Downward Spiral

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews, glad everyone seems to have enjoyed the last chapter! I drew inspiration for a couple scenes from the Mercury Rising arc in NXM, and X-Force #18-21 (I think those were the #'s). I hope you all continue to enjoy! This chapter is named after a Nine Inch Nails album.

* * *

CHAPTER 14

 _The Downward Spiral_

* * *

DAY ONE

Julian pressed his fingers against the cement, his forehead wrinkled. A moment later he pulled his fingers away, leaving a handprint in the still damp material. He stared at the wall for a few moments, his stomach tightening into a knot. Then he crumbled it out of the way with his mind and stepped into the dark tunnel behind it.

"Careful, kid." Mr. Logan, who had followed him in, reached out and put his hand on his shoulder. It had taken Josh only moments to heal the deep wound that had once existed there. "Lemme go first, just in case. You don't know what they're—"

Julian shrugged his hand off angrily. "I know _exactly_ what they're capable of!"

He'd been up all night, trying to understand exactly what had happened.

Laura had obeyed Kimura's order, walking out of the small dark room with her head hung. Then he'd been knocked out again. He and the others had awoken on the street outside, the manhole cover sealed tightly behind them. After Julian had spent five minutes yelling at the top of his lungs for Ms. Frost, receiving no response but disturbed glances from passerbys, they had a brief but heated argument about whether to go right back in, or whether to go to the school for backup. Julian and Santo had both been strongly in favor of the former: rip the cover off and charge back in blindly. Cessily had been the voice of reason. She had pointed out Julian's shoulder (which at that point was oozing pus in addition to blood), and the fact that Santo hadn't mastered reassembling himself. What chance would they stand a second time, already injured and down one team member? Their _strongest_ one, at that?

Neither boy had argued, knowing it was true. Laura was far more skilled in combat than either of them.

And the fact that the facility hadn't even bothered to send them farther away spoke to how powerful they were. What did they have to fear from three students?

Now they were back with help. Mr. Logan, Summers, Storm, and Frost, in addition to Cessily, Santo, Sooraya, and Nori. And Josh was waiting back at the jet, ready to heal Laura and anyone else who needed it. They were ready to fight for her. Actually, Julian had never been so ready for a fight in his life. He thought he might hate Kimura more than the Purifiers now.

But he had this funny feeling they weren't going to find anything. The hallway was dark, and there was this echoing quality to his movements. _Emptiness._ He felt the hairs on the back of his neck raising as he gazed down the corridor.

"X-23…Laura…is not here." Frost called. "They're gone."

Julian looked back at his mentor, who was still standing just outside the tunnel, peering in. "Where is she, then?"

"I don't know." Her pale eyebrows drew together. "We should return to the school. I can find her with Cerebra."

"Can't you track her scent?" Julian asked Mr. Logan.

"Yeah, but Frost's right." Mr. Logan frowned. "Cerebra will be faster."

Summers nodded. "Back to the jet, kids."

Cessily frowned at him.

"We will find her." Sooraya's voice was firm. "Laura is one of us. She saved our lives, all of us, at one point."

Julian closed his eyes.

An hour later, Frost was pulling off the Cerebra helmet. "I can't get a lock on Laura." She shook her head slightly. "Or anyone from the Facility. They must have psionic shielding of some sort." She looked at Julian. "I'm sorry. I'll keep trying. I'll do everything in my power...I know you're disappointed but..."

She kept talking, but he wasn't really listening.

Beside her, Logan stood with folded arms. He sniffed the air and nodded slightly. "Keep tryin'," he told Frost.

Julian looked at the ground.

That was the night the dreams started.

* * *

At first, he was only aware of the voice. The muffled man's voice, talking in an easy, unconcerned tone. "Not … magic word … for… deal? Yes…free. No… dies right…"

"I…yes." A softer, serious voice, similarly muffled. He knew this one.

"Good…but…need you…escaping…go…even think about…got them here…do it again."

"Please…air."

Julian agreed with her. _Please, air._ His lungs were starting to burn. He tried to inhale, but there was nothing. Just a vacuum. As he tried to breathe from it, it breathed from him. Now _he_ was burning. Drowning in nothing.

Just when it seemed like it was over, air gushed back into his lungs. He gulped it down. In, out. In, out. Like a dying fish.

The fluid felt thick. Sticky. Like a syrup. Green syrup. That was the second thing he was aware of. His skin. And that there was something strapped over his face, something in his mouth. Something around his head. Metal. He forced his eyes to open. They burned. His throat burned. Everything burned. He saw double, triple. Then his vision focused.

She was standing with her fingers pressed to the glass separating them, her eyes fixed on him. Studying him. Her long, dark hair was slick and wet, her face splattered with blood. Her black uniform was torn all over, exposing her skin. Which was also bloody. Her side was _soaked_. Red-black. Her right arm missing at the shoulder. An arm was lying on the ground, a few feet away. It looked like a mannequin limb.

But he knew it wasn't.

What had happened? He tried to remember, but there was just a blank spot. He'd been out for a while. And Laura had obviously paid the price.

 _She is a monster. Please…she…she has to die._

He suddenly understood. Kimura. Kimura had done this to her.

Her eyes seemed sad. She was pressing her fingers against the glass, and biting her lower lip.

His eyes lowered to her fingernails. He hadn't noticed it before, but she painted them black. His eyes were burning now. What was happening?

 _Yes…free. No… dies right…_

 _I…yes._

 _Please…air._

The green fluid around him. The mask on his face. The burning. He understood.

"NO!" he shouted, shaking his head as hard as he could, from side to side. "Laura, _don't!_ There's another way. You can't do this! Not for _me!_ "

But what came out was "Mmm-mmmmph! Mmm- _mmmmph!"_

Here was the part that really messed him up. The expression on her face. Rather, the way the expression just faded away. He had watched people die before…but he'd never watched someone just choose to _stop living_. But he saw it now, as her eyes closed slowly. Her choice, which was no choice at all.

Then her fingers slid down the glass, and she turned away. "I am ready." Her voice did not tremble.

"It doesn't matter whether you're ready or not, X-23. _We'll_ tell you when you're ready." The other person, the man. The man who was doing this to her. "Kimura, take her to her cell."

Kimura leaned into the room. He could dimly make out her figure in the doorway. "She actually took the bait? Oh, _clone._ I'm almost disappointed. After that daring escape attempt and everything." She smacked her hand into her fist. "I bet even _Sarah_ would beat your ass."

Julian's eyebrows drew together. He tried to make his mind work. Reach out. Shatter the glass. He didn't care what crazy reaction Laura would have to all the trigger scent. She should kill them, all of them. He could block her. And if not…well, he couldn't let her do this.

But nothing happened.

"Come here, clone!" Kimura ordered, folding her arms.

Laura was walking away, her head hung.

And then she was just gone.

"AHHHGH!" Julian sat up in his bed, then buried his face in his shaking hands. He sat for a while, breathing slowly, trying to calm down.

It took a long, long time.

* * *

YEAR ONE

Julian fiddled with his gloves, glancing at the door impatiently. What was taking her so long? They did this every night. He knew he shouldn't feel angry. Or annoyed. But he did.

The door finally opened. Cessily was finishing tying her hair into a messy ponytail. "Sorrreee! Everything's just crazy tonight…I was helping Megan a bit ago and then Nori wanted to talk, she's having a rough time…and, y'know how it is."

He gazed at her.

"But I'm ready now!" She saluted him, then frowned. "Uh, where's Santo?"

Julian sneered. "Santo decided that some stupid alien invasion is more important. I saw him leaving with Iceman and Angel."

"Oh." She looked down, frowning. "You know that's not true. If the teachers ask him to come…how can he say no?"

Julian folded his arms. " _I_ would."

Cessily sighed. "I'm sure he'll come tomorrow. You _know_ he cares…he's just, uh, really pressed for time. Like me." She paused, frowning. "Everyone wants us to come tank for them."

"Uh huh." His voice was flat.

Cessily gazed up at him. "I'm worried about you…you've got bags under your eyes. Are you getting enough sleep?" She hesitated. "The nightmares again?"

Julian ignored the comment. "Come on…we're wasting time. I'm sick of not finding anything. Let's grab Sooraya and go." He paused. "We're going right to the top tonight."

"O-o-kay." Cessily paused too. "What d'you mean?"

He shrugged. "You'll see."

* * *

"I am _most_ disappointed, Julian." Frost's voice was harsh. She was leaning against her desk, her arms folded as she glared down at him. "Tell me…what on _earth_ could have possibly possessed you to burst into the office of one of the top crime lords on the east coast—possibly the United States—and cause him _three and a half million dollars_ in property damages?! _For a second time?!_ "

Julian shrugged, looking at his gloved hands.

" _Speak._ " Frost's voice had the tone of a command.

He stayed silent.

She raised her eyebrow. "You are just digging yourself a deeper hole. I had to relinquish a personal favor to Kingpin to convince him not to have you _killed._ He may still press charges. This, on top of all the other pressing matters that are ongoing."

He picked at a thread on his left thumb.

"You could have gotten _Sooraya_ killed. If not Cessily, too." Frost leaned forward. "Do you not _care_ about your friends anymore?"

Julian couldn't help himself. "You taught me how to do it."

Frost glared at him. "Excuse me?"

He gave her a cool look. "How to pick and choose who you care about. You chose not to care about Laura." Pause. "I don't see why I shouldn't choose who I don't care about, too."

Her skin began to harden, the color fading as she shifted into her diamond form. "You…you have five seconds to get out of my office."

"Didn't want to be here anyway." Julian shoved his chair away and headed to the door, then paused, his hand on the doorknob. "Thanks for the lesson."

Frost said nothing.

He closed the door much harder than he needed to behind him.

* * *

Julian was alone tonight, both Sooraya and Cessily nowhere to be found around sunset. He hadn't waited up for them. They were probably scared about the trouble they'd gotten into with the Kingpin.

Whatever.

A while later found him gazing at the men lying unconscious around the pool table, a few of the striped balls still rolling around on the floor, clinking together lazily. Then he turned to the man he was pinning up against the wall with his mind, his eyes glowing. "Where is X-23?"

His captive was a heavyset man, with hair slicked back in a ponytail, and small eyes that shifted back and forth as he spoke. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes you do." Julian's eyes narrowed. "I _know_ your boss had you hire her for a hit last month. Vandergilde. Where were the people you spoke to? Give me an address."

"Or what, huh?" The man raised his eyebrows. "You going to knock me out? Rough me up, huh, buddy? I'm _terrified._ " He sneered. "Go back to the playground, kid."

Julian gritted his teeth. This wasn't the first time he'd heard this response. Most of his information so far had come from eavesdropping, versus actually getting straight answers via interrogation. And where had _that_ gotten him? He'd learned that gossip was always a step behind. There was the question again, floating before him, like it did every night. To kill, or not to kill. He knew what Laura's answer would be. But every time it came to the moment…something held him back. Some barrier. He couldn't bring himself to do it.

 _Blood is good for intimidation._ Laura had told him this, over a year ago now. That piece of advice he _was_ ready for. He reached out, and a cue stick flew to his hands. Then he cracked it over his knee and examined the jagged edge.

The man grinned. "Tell me when I should start being scared."

Julian forced his captive's hand up against the wall. "How about now?" Then he slammed the fragment of wood through the palm with his mind.

"FUCKING—" the man roared. There was blood everywhere.

Julian forced himself to ignore it. "Ready to talk?" His voice shook slightly.

"Ghhnn—" his captive stared at his hand, his fingers spasming. "I don't _know_ anything, okay?! My boss gave me some money and told me to meet a guy at a street corner, that was it. I swear!"

Julian hesitated. How did he know if he was lying or not? What would Laura do?

 _Do it again._

He looked down at the other fragment in his hand, then up at the man. "Still got half a cue here. That the story you're sticking to?"

The man nodded. But there was something about his eyes that he didn't trust.

Julian raised the other half of the stick. "Too bad."

* * *

The address led him to an empty warehouse, in the industrial district. Whatever operation had been there had long since boarded up. They had probably just used it as a meeting place. He stood in the doorway for a while, resting his head against the frame, staring at the empty expanse. Another dead end.

Somehow, he sensed it wouldn't be the last.

* * *

Julian sat against the wall, clutching at his blood splattered abdomen. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. The room was filled with bright bursts of light, sparkles, flashing metal, screaming, flying sand, rocks. One of the latter chipped the drywall beside him. He reached out with his free hand and picked it up, frowning slightly.

Everyone had instantly stopped thinking about _her_ the moment Frost detected a mutant birth with Cerebra. The first in ages. They had named her Hope. She was all anyone could think of now. The teachers. His friends. Even Cessily. Granted, her heart hadn't been in it for a while now. He figured it was the news about Kevin. He'd been spotted by an X-men contact, who told Frost that he wasn't doing so well. Cessily had overheard.

But still. It was like Laura hadn't even _existed._

Until now, he hadn't gotten involved. It wasn't his fight. But he had listened to Nori's speech with the others. She and David had been in the War room, and had seen footage of a CNN broadcast about the recent incident in Cooperstown, Alaska. That's where the baby had been born. David had spotted the bodies of several Purifiers among the ruins.

Nori had assembled the team in the rec room, for the first time since that day Laura had been taken, and told them that this was _personal._ That the people who had the baby right now were Purifiers, the same group that had killed their friends and then come after them, just last year. And for the first time, he had felt a spark of interest in something other than ripping the facility apart. In ripping something _else_ apart.

Big mistake.

Now, here he was, trying to hold his insides in with his hand. Ripped apart himself. He was afraid to use his powers near such a vital area. Not that they were all that strong anymore. They had been falling steadily in level. He couldn't even break the sound barrier anymore. He couldn't even keep himself from getting hurt.

He turned the rock around in his hand, gazing at it dully. If he died right now, then no one would be looking for her at all. She was good as dead, too. Why did he keep making such stupid decisions? He gritted his teeth, the rock slipping from his fingers. Another worst moment among the many worst moments of his life.

Then he heard Cessily scream, and he scrambled forward, dragging himself along the floor, watching as Lady Deathstrike swept her talons in an arc through Cessily's midsection. She was okay, the cuts sealing closed almost as soon as they had formed. But the claws were still moving. Towards the spot that Nori was charging toward.

She was going to die.

"….n-no…." Julian reached out. To do what? What could he possibly do to this insanely powerful woman, who had skewered him like he was a piece of meat, then threw him against the wall to die?

 _Create a pocket of air, in her brain. Or her heart._ Laura's voice whispered in his ear. _Kill_ her. _Now._

His eyes rose to Deathstrike's head, and he thought about just that. And then his eyes slid shut.

He was falling.

The hallway was dark, and the metal floor was cold under his bare feet. What was happening? Was he dead?

There was a soft, far away sound. Bubbling. He looked up, and saw soft light coming from a doorway farther on. He had to move toward it. He didn't want to, but he was drawn like a magnet.

When he reached it, he found a room, bare, except for a large glass tank, full of liquid. Water? Then he realized what it contained. _Who_ it contained.

His heart skipped a beat.

She was floating in the tank.

He ran toward her, then began pounding his fists on the glass, yelling, trying to get her attention. "LAURA! Laura, it's _me!_ "

Her eyes were half open, partially rolled back, like she was drugged. Her hair billowed around her, floating, and her limbs were bent. Weightless. On her face was a heavy mask, from which bubbles emerged. But it was her skin that bothered him. Or rather, what was _in_ her skin. His eyebrows drew together. Hundreds and hundreds of thin metal rods. She looked like a porcupine. A pin cushion.

The bigger rods had tubes attached to them, through which a silvery fluid was flowing.

He pressed his hand against the glass, his forehead wrinkling. How could he get her out? Why couldn't he just shatter it? "LAURA!" he tried again, his voice breaking.

Her eyes opened slightly, rolling down to meet his, and her eyebrows drew together. She moved her fingers very slightly, and squeezed her eyes shut. He could hear the groan, from far away. They were hurting her. He had to get her out. He looked around desperately, but the room was empty. Maybe if he rammed it with his shoulder—

" _Hurk!"_ Julian sat up suddenly. The room was dim.

Josh was pulling his fingers away, grinning. "You okay, man? Scared us for a minute there! Thought you were a—"

"I'm fine." Julian shoved himself off the gurney. His knees buckled as his feet hit the floor, and he grabbed a cart for support as he went down.

"Whoa!" Dr. McCoy sounded alarmed. "You need to rest. You just recovered from a very serious injury. Lady Deathstrike has killed more experienced opponents than _you._ "

"Twelve inches of adamantium to the gut." Josh grinned. "There's a joke in there somewhere."

Julian glared at him. "…shut up…" he let his eyes slide shut. Just for a few minutes.

Then he'd start looking again. He needed to find her, _now._

* * *

Julian was leaving the infirmary, planning out the rest of his day. Get something to eat because he was starving…make sure Cessily and Sooraya were okay, and maybe Nori…Santo...then he had to get back to it. He'd check the warehouse, as usual, on the odd chance they were using it again.

He tried to ignore the little voice in the back of his mind. The one telling him that even if he found her, there was nothing he could do. He could never save her alone.

He was useless.

"Elixir fix you up?"

He turned. "Mr. Summers. Uh, yeah. He did."

"Good." Pause. "Don't bother with the 'mister' anymore, Julian." Summers folded his arms. "School is kind of on hiatus for the time being."

Julian looked down. "Yeah."

"Follow me to my office?" Summers frowned. "I think it's time we had a talk."

"Uh, okay."

A few minutes later found Julian sitting across from the headmaster's big mahogany desk. The last time he'd been here was when he had been in trouble for making a speech in the cafeteria about mutant superiority. He knew this occasion couldn't be good, either. But really, his underlying concern was that the talk would take a long time.

He had things to do.

"Surge told me what you did to Lady Deathstrike." Summers raised his eyebrows. "That was very serious. You know that, right?"

"She was going to _kill_ Nori." Julian frowned. "I wasn't ready to lose _more_ friends. I did what I had to do. Besides, Deathstrike isn't even dead, I just ended up frying some of her cybernetics, Dr. McCoy told me—"

Summers held up his hand. "I wasn't passing judgement. It was an observation."

"Oh." Julian eyed him uncertainly.

"You're right. You did what you had to do." Summers frowned too. "The truth is, these are serious times. There are a lot of threats to us right now."

Julian was silent.

"Some of those threats are just going to get worse if we ignore them. If we turn a blind eye…they'll just grow while we're not looking. And then, someday soon, they'll be too big for us to deal with." Pause. "Like the Purifiers."

Julian stiffened automatically.

Summers seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then he leaned forward. " _You_ know what it's like to be a leader. Maybe not on the same scale as me…but you know what it's like to have everyone looking to you for answers, in hectic situations."

Julian shook his head. "I'm not a leader anymore."

"But it taught you that sometimes things just need to happen. And that's why you weren't afraid to do what needed to be done with Deathstrike." Summers nodded slightly. "We're not going to wait around for the threats to come to us anymore. There are others who are willing to do what needs to be done." Pause. "And I think you might be one of them."

Julian's eyebrows drew together.

"We could use someone like you. On this team I'm putting together." Now he leaned back in his chair. "You might need a little training…but that can be arranged."

"There are no telekinetics on Earth, besides me and some kid named—"

Summers shook his head. "I didn't mean just telekinesis. Some combat maneuvers…tactics…that sort of thing." Pause. "But it's not entirely true. There _is_ someone who could teach you a few things. With your TK." Another pause. "You ever heard of a mutant called Cable?"

He nodded slowly. Of course he'd heard about Cable.

"Good." Summers frowned. "I know you've never given up looking for your friend. Emma told me about your trouble with Kingpin."

Julian stared at him.

Summers sighed. "We don't have the resources to devote to looking for one individual, right now. Everyone's focusing on survival of the species and self. We're stretched thin."

"Thanks, but-" Julian began.

Summers held up his hand. "That doesn't mean it's hopeless. What I'm saying is…if you decide you want to help...you would learn some things along the way that will no doubt aid _you_ in your search."

Julian gazed at him.

"You don't need to answer right away." Summers stood up. "Think it over. Just…think about it. And the people you'd be—"

"I don't need to think about it." Julian looked down. "I'll do it."

Summers paused. "Good. You'll start training this afternoon, then. A few basic tactics, so you can be ready for the first mission. Which will be soon."

"Okay." Julian closed his eyes.

Summers walked to the door. Then he paused. "Oh, and Julian…don't tell anyone about this. They won't understand."

"I won't."

Summers hesitated. "I know you're close with Emma—"

"No." Julian gritted his teeth. "I'm not. She's the _last_ person I would talk to."

"Oh. Okay." Summers waited a moment longer, then twisted the knob and left his office.

He sat there a little while longer, telling himself he'd made the right decision.

He thought of Laura, wherever she had been, floating in the fluid, her fingers trembling as they did something to her insides. As she stood, in his memory, the fingers of her remaining hand pressing against the glass, dripping with blood, the life fading in her face as she accepted her fate. As she begged him to put an end to Kimura. To her monster.

He clenched his hands into fists.

 _I'm going to learn how to kill your monsters._

* * *

"Still think you're makin' a huge mistake, Keller."

Julian gazed at the man he had always regarded with deep respect, and the slightest amount of fear. He'd heard the stories. _Everyone_ had. Wolverine was a legend, not just among the school, but the teachers, too.

Logan was wearing the same pointed black mask that he was. It concealed just enough of their bone structures so that face-tracking technology couldn't gather enough data for a match. The eyes were a red lens, obscuring his pupils from scanners, and doubling as night vision goggles. On Logan, this just looked insanely scary.

Julian's uniform was similar to the one he'd worn since Frost had broken up the squads and formed the new team, except this one was grey were the other had been red. Some sort of camouflaging, heat-concealing technology. Logan and the other man, Warpath, wore similar outfits, cut a little differently.

Julian didn't really care about the cool gear, or the fact that he was now technically Wolverine's teammate, or that he was about to embark on some kind of black-ops mission. About a year ago, all these things would have blown his mind. But now, he barely noticed them.

What he _did_ care about was the training sessions. He'd had a crash course on basic defense maneuvers for the last week and a half. When Logan had first entered the Danger Room and found Julian waiting, he had turned around on his heel and disappeared for about an hour. He was livid when he finally came back, and had ranted about how he was making the biggest mistake of his life. How he had no idea what he was getting himself into. How _Laura_ would be so, so disappointed in him. "Well, she's not here to tell me that, is she?" Julian had asked quietly.

Logan had responded by giving him a three-hour hellfire course on how to defend himself without his powers. Which was mostly just an excuse for the older man to use him as a punching bag.

But at the end of the session, Julian successfully blocked an attack.

Logan hadn't let on that he was impressed. But he _had_ told him to be there at the crack of dawn the next day, because he didn't have time to waste on lazy shits like him.

Every night, Julian had ended the day stiff and sore and aching all over, because he spent the entire day after the morning lessons practicing, alone and against simulations. But it had paid off. He could now counter most of Logan's basic attacks, almost without thinking about it. If the man _really_ wanted to kill him, he had no doubt he could. But Logan's "basic" was other people's "black belt," so he felt marginally prepared for whatever lay ahead.

At least, he thought he might be. If there was one thing his experience in the Facility had taught him, it was how to doubt himself.

"I made my choice." Julian looked at the church in the distance. It looked so ordinary. "So, we just need to bust in and take back what they stole?"

" _We_ nothing." Logan glared at him. He could tell by the way his nose wrinkled. "You two'll stay here and back me up if I need it." Pause. "I won't need it."

Warpath glanced down at Julian and shrugged. "Dunno about him…but I'm not staying put."

"Look, I don't care what promises Summers made to tempt you two into this bullshit." Logan gritted his teeth. "You go through with this, you won't be X-men anymore. You might be on the same team…might stand right next to Beast an' Angel an' Iceman…but you won't _be_ the same as them." He looked up at Warpath. "You feel like you got no purpose in life now. I get that. But…revenge? Didn't work for you last time." Pause. "Not gonna work for you this time, either. You're a big tough man, I know. But you do this, an' you're somethin' else. You're just a _killer._ "

Warpath said nothing.

Logan looked at Julian again. "And _you._ You little _shit_." He closed his eyes, seemingly out of words. "Just…just walk away. I can do this alone."

"No you can't." Warpath nodded to the church. "I count six…seven guys on the outside. Gotta take them out, before they trip any alarms."

Logan turned his glare upwards again. "You honestly think I can't handle seven guys by myself, Proudstar?"

"I don't doubt you." Warpath shrugged again. "Just doubt you can do it when they're on opposite sides of the building. Kind of hard to stab through, what, twenty feet of wood with six-inch claws."

"Grr." Logan paused, shook his head. "Fine. Your lives." He stomped toward the building. "They just checked in with radio. Let's get this the fuck over with then." _Snikt!_

The pair traded glances. Then they followed.

* * *

Julian shielded himself again as Logan's claws whipped by, watching blood splatter in an arc against the green energy field.

He felt strangely disembodied. It was one thing to hear the stories about Logan. It was one thing to see Laura shoot a guy in front of him, or to see the bodies she'd carved up as they lay dead on the floor. But it was entirely another to be in the heart of it, hearing the cries of pain, the _thumps_ of those bodies hitting the floor, feeling people bumping into him as they died. Smelling the smell of blood, so strong that he was keenly aware of it, even without enhanced senses.

He realized just how unprepared he'd have been if he _had_ found Laura. His desperate searching would have been all for nothing. He'd have just lost her all over again as he froze up, overwhelmed. Probably would have lost himself, too.

"Ahhck!" someone behind him. He whirled around, just in time to watch Warpath sinking his twin hunting knives into the neck of a man who had been about to shoot him in the back. About to snuff him out like a candle. Damn, was he even going to make it through _this?_

The man dropped to his knees, and then the ground, his blood splattering across the snowy ground in front of him like a gross painting.

"He was going to kill you." Warpath looked down at the man. "So, I—I killed him."

Julian nudged the man's head with his boot. He didn't twitch. "You sure did."

"Guys! Thumbs outta your asses! _"_ Logan snarled. "We have six minutes to get this thing before they're supposed to check in with HQ again. Quit fuckin' around. Get. In. The. Church."

Julian was mildly surprised to hear Logan swear so much, but then again, he'd just slaughtered six people in front of him, so he supposed he would just get used to it at some point.

They followed their leader into the older building. He glanced down at the doorknob as he twisted it, and saw that it was slick with blood. He felt sick, but pressed through it, shoving the door out of his way and moving to stand beside Logan.

"They took it." Wolverine was mumbling to himself. "How did they know—" he sniffed the air. "Risman's here."

A few moments later, a door opened at the other end of the chapel, and a person Julian recognized stepped in. Risman. One of the Purifiers who had attacked them at the school, and escaped…after Sooraya sanded half his face off. He looked like something out of a horror movie, his flesh deeply grooved, one eyeball mostly exposed. He was holding a strap in his right hands and pulling something behind him. In his left hand was a gun. A creature followed him in, on all fours.

Julian recognized her. Rahne Sinclair. A teacher that Josh had gotten in trouble with, once, for making out with her. She wasn't that much older than him, maybe two years.

Risman was holding a gun at her head. "Stand down. Or it dies."

Logan snarled. "She dies, you follow her one second later, Risman."

"After all the mutants I killed at your institute, do you really believe I won't hesitate to kill one more?" Risman's eye narrowed. "Stand _down._ "

A few moments passed, without movement. Risman raised his remaining eyebrow. "Warned you." He flicked the safety off his gun and squeezed the trigger. _POP!_

Rahne collapsed to the floor, moaning. Her knee was a bloody mess. She was obviously drugged. Otherwise, she would be doing a lot more than moaning.

Risman smiled calmly. "Fortunately for your friend, I am a _man of God_ and decided to show her mercy not deserving of your kind. But I am only human and have my limits. So, surrender now—or she begins her eternal suffering in hell tonight." He pointed the gun at her head.

Beside him, Logan dropped to his knees and put his hands behind his head. _Snakt!_ "Warpath! Hellion! _Down!_ "

Julian stared at Risman, who glanced at him.

"I remember _you,_ boy. You were at the school. And at the busses." Risman paused. "How ironic. You survived all that just to die in this church. Guess third time's the charm, as they say. Use the vibranium cuffs on _that_ one." The last statement was directed to one of his assistants.

" _Hellion!_ " Logan hissed. "Hands UP and KNEEL!"

Julian began to sink down very slowly. He couldn't stop looking at Risman. This was—this was Stryker's right-hand man. If there was someone he wanted dead beside Kimura and the head of the facility…

Purifiers walked up behind them, to bind their hands behind their backs. One kicked Logan to the floor and pressed his boot onto the back of his head. "Down, dog."

"Crap like this…is why I'm no leader." Logan mumbled this into the floor.

There was that word again. Leader. _It taught you that sometimes things just need to happen._ _And that's why you weren't afraid to do what needed to be done._ Julian's hands were being pulled behind his back. The cuffs were about to go on, the ones that would dampen his powers. He heard the Purifier behind him unclasping them from their belt. He gritted his teeth.

Risman surveyed them. "Good. Now, then."

He raised his gun to Rahne's head again. "Though I walk through the valley—"

Julian thought about creating a valley in Risman's brain.

"HNNK—" Risman dropped his gun and staggered backward, the gun slipping from his fingers and hitting the floor with a clunk. Then he hit the door he had come through, sliding down it and to the floor, his hands and feet twitching.

"What the—"

"KILL THEM ALL!" Someone shouted. He wasn't sure who.

Purifiers were flooding the church. Risman had brought back-up.

Julian scrambled to his feet, moments after Logan and Warpath, who didn't even need his help with the ropes. They were in motion, blood flying through the air again.

This time, he joined in.


	15. Chapter 15 - Make It Right

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am now back from my extended family vacation. I believe I have responded by PM to all reviews, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I hope you continue to enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 15  
 _Make It Right_

* * *

He was in a semi dark room. A bedroom. Laura was standing in front of him, perfectly still. The only identifier was her long, dark hair, but still, he knew it was her. She was letting someone's fingers slip the straps of her dark green bra down her shoulders. He couldn't see who the someone was. Only Laura.

"Wait." She reached behind her back and pulled out a paper packet out the waistband of her underwear. "This will make it better."

The someone took the packet from her, turned it over in his fingers. Then laughed softly. Appreciatively. "Haven't done this in _years._ Guess you know your stuff."

Laura's fingers dropped down to her side. There was the sound of paper ripping.

Then she looked to the side, very sharply. He could see her profile. He caught a glimpse of her flat, despondent look.

He heard a child's voice. Laughter, running footsteps.

 _Snkkt!_

Everything went black.

It was light again. Laura was kneeling on the carpet, wiping blood out of her eyes. And staring at something outside a doorway he couldn't see. Her arms began to shake.

He reached out, but as soon as he tried to touch her, she was gone.

"Uh—" Julian snapped awake and sat up, his forehead wrinkled. He scanned the room, but he was alone. Sunlight was streaming through the window. He rubbed his eyes, frowning.

* * *

Julian opened the porch door and stepped out in the chilly air. He started shivering almost instantly in his thin hoody, but he wasn't about to go back in yet. He'd just spotted Logan out of the corner of his eye, puffing away on a cigar, his cowboy hat tilted down over his eyes. He was talking to someone on the phone. Probably Summers.

"—got the plan. Loud an' clear. Find Rahne. Risman's boss. Yep." Pause. "I just still don't know what the hell you're on, with all the child soldier bullshit. I'm telling you…they're greener than peas in a pod. Saw Warpath nearly take out Hellion's eye by accident. _By accident._ And speaking of Hellion, he's _worse_. Spent a week trainin' him and he's still fightin' with his head. Afraid to get his hands dirty. What happens when they slap a blockin' collar on him?" Long pause. "Uh huh. Uh-huh. That what you tell yourself at night so you can sleep? Worried about gettin' caught?"

Julian shoved his hands into his pockets. "Thought that's why I'm _on_ the team. To _use_ my powers. You know, cause they're untraceable." His voice was sharp.

Logan didn't even look at him. "Right. Try tellin' Emma that, when you get her little pet _killed._ She'll be—"

Julian reached out and made a fist. _Crack!_

"What the—" Logan looked at him now, his eyes narrowing. "Did…did you just break my _phone?_ "

"Yep." Julian paused. "I'm not 'Emma's little pet.' Don't call me that."

"I'll call you whatever the hell I want." Somehow, Logan didn't sound pissed. Actually, he sounded a bit impressed. "She must've done a number on you."

"She didn't do anything to me." Julian moved to the railing and leaned over. "It's what she did to Laura that made me realize what she is."

Logan stiffened, then grunted.

"That's why I'm here." Julian gazed at the mountains in the distance. "So I can get her out of that place. The facility."

Logan shook his head. "Stupid idea. You're still wet behind the ears."

"I know." Julian glanced at him, his eyebrows drawing together. "That's why I need to learn. I need to know exactly what kind of people they are. I need to learn how to…how to end them." Pause. "They don't deserve to live."

"Kid, it ain't got nothin' to do with them deservin' to live or not." Logan leaned on the railing too. "No one _deserves_ to live. Not even you. We're just a couple billion ants crawlin' on a big rock, all of us with the same claim on life."

Julian glanced at him, his forehead wrinkled. "So, why kill, then?"

"Again, like ants." Logan paused. "So they don't come back an' ruin your picnic again."

Julian looked down, frowning. "That can't be all. Kimura doesn't deserve to live as much as Laura does."

"An' what did my clone ever do that made _her_ deserve to live?"

"I…" His forehead wrinkled. "She's Laura. "

"She's also X-23." Logan frowned. "I didn't tell you kids what she did before she came to the school, 'coz I didn't want anyone to treat her different. That'd never help her learn to fit in." He looked down, biting on his cigar. "I dunno if she ever coulda been normal. She's more machine than person. But that's beside the point." He shook his head, scattering ashes off the tip of his cigar. "She's a killer. She's killed more people than you ever will…than me…she doesn't even need to think about _why._ She just _does._ "

"That's not true." Julian's voice rose. "She's not a machine. I _know_ she isn't. I'm her friend. I'm her—"

"Her what?" Logan shook his head. "Don't lie to yourself, kid. Laura needs to be found. But not by you. You're throwin' your life away."

Julian's face darkened. "What life? You mean my _stolen_ life? The life I'm living because _she_ traded herself in?"

Logan glanced at him. "Eh?"

"They put me in a tank of trigger scent, and started drowning me in front of her. The only way to save me was to give herself up."

The older man raised an eyebrow.

Julian looked down again. "I didn't tell anyone because…well, I felt like a piece of shit about it. Useless shit."

"I figured—" Logan yanked the cigar from his mouth and tapped the end on the railing. "I figured she stayed with the facility because she thought it was the best place for her." His voice was calm.

But Julian knew better. "No, she stayed because I was a dead weight that dragged her down." He gritted his teeth. "I can't live with that. I'm going to learn what I need to do…then I'm going after her. So I can make things right."

Silence.

"Good talk." Julian turned and headed back toward the porch door.

"Wait."

He paused, his hand on the door knob.

"You wanna make yourself useful around here…run down to town an' get me a new phone." Logan paused. "This little piece of shit broke mine when I was in the middle of tellin' this other guy what a big piece of shit _he_ is."

"Roger." Julian left the porch.

* * *

YEAR TWO

Julian gazed at the large white church in center of the rolling plains. He thought he might be developing a church phobia. He wondered idly what that would be called.

This was the tenth Purifier ring they were about to bust up, in the two months since Risman had set them up. Granted, they were growing ever closer to finding Rahne. There had even been some bloody bindings from her knee in the last building. But each time, she had been moved just before they arrived, and Logan hadn't let Julian fly after them solo.

They were being led to this church in particular, for some reason. Probably because it was out in the middle of nowhere.

"So, Hellion, huh?" Warpath suddenly broke the silence.

They had been sitting out here for a while, waiting as Logan crept a little closer to scout things out with his enhanced senses. And healing factor.

Julian paused. "That name's stupid. You can call me Julian." Pause. "I also answer to 'little shit'."

"Heh." Warpath shrugged. "James. I'm guessing you were Frost's student."

"At one point."

"So was I."

Julian glanced up at him. "Really?"

James nodded. "When she was in the Hellfire Club. I led her little pack of students. We were called her Hellions." He sneered slightly. "Her heart was in the right place…but she's got a few screws loose."

Julian paused. "More like _all_ her screws are loose."

"Yeah." James shrugged. "Well. Here we are."

"Here we are." Julian shifted. "The fuck is Logan doing that's taking so long?"

"Maybe he found a mirror." James grinned. "How long do you think he spend styling his hair every day?"

"An hour, at least." Julian paused. "Maybe two."

Their communicators crackled to life. "I _heard_ that. Way's clear, stop jerkin' off and get out here. Do _not_ go inside."

"Roger." Julian got to his feet.

"Fly us over?" James suggested.

"Nope." He shrugged. "Sorry man. Logan thinks I need to put in more elbow grease." Pause. "Besides, you look like you weigh more than my buddy who's literally made of rocks."

"All muscle."

"That's what Santo claims too, but I don't buy it. Pizza doesn't just turn into muscle unless you make some kind of effort."

"Heh."

* * *

"I don't get it." Julian watched as James scooped Rahne off the floor, his expression deeply troubled. "Why would they bring her all this way…and us…and then just leave her here?" He paused. "A trap?" Laura had taught him about those.

"Could be." Logan folded his arms. "But for now, I'm callin' this a success. She's breathin'. Whatever they did to her…we'll help her get over it." Pause. "Fly us back to the transport, kid."

Julian frowned. "I thought you wanted me to lay off the head stuff."

Logan gave him an unimpressed look. "Don't be a smart ass. Fly us back."

"Roger."

* * *

"What's happening? She going to be okay?" James's voice was sharp.

"Her leg is healed." Josh was mumbling, his forehead wrinkled as he concentrated, his hands wrapped around Rahne's legs as she laid on the sofa, unconscious. "Trying to clean out the heroin from her blood cells…not getting it all…" He pulled his hands away, the golden glow stopping. "But enough. She's going to be fine. Physically."

"I'll tell Logan." Angel was speaking. He'd arrived a couple days ago, apparently the owner of this property. Julian guessed he was as wealthy, or wealthier, than his own parents.

"I'll do it." James was already heading out of the room.

"Rahne? Hey, Rahne? You okay?" Josh was shaking her gently, smiling slightly. "Remember me?"

Julian leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, his forehead wrinkling. He was thinking about Laura again. It was hard not to, when the last time he'd watched Josh at work like this had been when he brought her charred remains to him and demanded he fix her. He had never been so terrified in his life. Or as relieved as he was when he heard her start breathing again. His throat felt tight. It felt tight now. Why hadn't he just listened to her, stayed behind at the school that night they took Cessily? Why hadn't he believed she could save her? Why had he been so stupid, so—

"Grrrrrrrr…" from the sofa.

Julian looked up, just as Rahne crept up on all fours over the arm of the sofa, and shapeshifted. She knocked Josh out of the way and charged at Angel, blood spraying all over the place.

"What the…" Josh groaned weakly.

"RRRAAAWWRRRLLL!" Rahne had Angel pinned against the wall and was ripping his wings off. More blood. It was like a Tarantino movie.

"STOP!" Julian shouted, grabbing Rahne mentally and dragging her backward. Her nails dug into the wood floor, raising curls of wood, and she snarled. He whirled her around to face him, and found she was now holding his former teacher's wings in her mouth, blood and feathers flying everywhere.

"Uhhnn…" Angel slid down the wall and slumped to the ground.

"Bad!" Julian yelled, shaking his finger at her. " _Bad…_ dog! Put them down!"

Rahne snarled louder. He lifted her off the floor and into the air, his teeth gritted.

The doors burst open as Logan and James charged in.

"The fuck you think you're doing, Keller?!" Logan snapped. "Put her down an'—"

Julian had already done that, startled by their sudden entrance. Rahne bowled Logan over and shot through the door with the wings, leaving a trail of blood and feathers in her wake.

"What the hell happened here? What did you _do?!_ " James demanded.

"Why does everyone always assume that _I_ made the mess?!" Julian couldn't help sounding annoyed.

"Shut up, Keller." Logan was getting to his feet. "You're the only one standing, so you're either the perpetrator or a witness. Talk."

"Rahne _ran over you_ while holding a _blood-covered set of wings_ in her _mouth_." Julian paused. "Did that somehow not register?"

Logan also paused. "Well, I also just got run over, so no, hadn't thought about it that way. What happened?"

"Josh woke her up. Then she went berserk and took Angel out." Julian headed over to where Josh lay, unconscious, and nudged his head with his boot. "You okay man?"

Josh's eyes remained closed.

Logan came over and knelt beside him. "Kid. Wake up."

Nothing.

Logan slapped him, hard. "GET UP!"

"Ahhh!" Josh's eyes snapped open, and he glowed golden as he began to fix his own wounds. "Wha—wha happened?"

"You have three seconds to get yourself together." Logan grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him over to where Angel still lay, bleeding profusely. He looked very pale.

"Oh wow. Okay—hang on, you're going to be fine…" Josh closed his eyes and got to work. Then he paused. "Ugh…"

"What's up?" Logan demanded.

"I dunno. Something's blocking my healing." Josh paused. "I got all the wounds. The scratches, the neck, the shoulders…but I can't do anything about the wings for now…maybe I'm burnt out or something?"

"Hrumpf." Logan looked at Julian. "Keller, get him up to his room an' put him in his bed. We'll patch him up…then figure out what comes next."

* * *

"What do we do now?" James asked. "Go after Rahne?"

Logan rubbed his face with his hands. "Goddamn. Hate being in charge of this shit-show."

They were sitting around the kitchen table, on bar stools.

"I _had_ her. It wasn't a shit-show until you two showed up." Julian paused. "I'll go grab her again. She can't be far…I'm not as fast as I used to be, but I'll find her in under a minute in the snow." He glanced at Josh. "Think you can stick his wing back on, if I can get it?"

"I'll give it a go." Josh paused. "Man, I haven't seen this much blood in a while."

"You'll get used to it." Julian began to slide off his stool.

"Hold up, Keller." Logan's voice was sharped. "I ain't signed off on it yet."

"…" Julian stared at him. "You have a better plan?"

Logan looked annoyed. "No. But that's not the point. Sit the fuck back down and—"

"MY WINGS!"

All turned to see Angel standing in the doorway. He didn't look okay. Blueish.

"Oh, man…" Josh paused. "What is happening?"

Julian swallowed. "Nothing good."

"They…they took my wings…" Angel was gazing off into space.

"Warren?" Logan asked tentatively, but received no answer. He looked at Josh. "What'd you say was blocking your heals earlier?"

"I didn't." Josh paused. "It felt like…like something was healing his wings already, and it wouldn't accept what I wanted to do."

Suddenly, Angel started to roar and scream at the top of his lungs, writhing, and rising into the air. The bandages on his back burst open as two giant metal sheets erupted out of his back and unfolded around him. Metal wings. Amid a shower of blood.

"Fuck!" Logan—and the others—scrambled off of their chairs, but they were uncertain what to do afterward. "Just—everyone stay calm. Don't move."

Josh hesitated. "If I could get close to him…maybe I could make him sleep."

"Good luck with that." James sounded grim.

Julian looked at Logan.

Logan glared back at him. "Keller…you so much as give him a funny _look,_ I'll—"

"THEY TOOK MY WINGS!" Warren rose into the air above them, his skin turning a deep, solid blue like he had just dipped himself in paint. "ARRRGHHHH!"

Julian shielded himself just in time to deflect the spray of metal blades that Warren had released. _SHLUNK!_ One struck Warpath in the upper arm, and another sunk into Elixir's shoulder. Logan got the worst of it, receiving three blades to the gut.

"Son of a—" the latter gritted his teeth. "Keller, what the fuck! Shield _all_ of us, now!"

"He attacked us really fast and I'm not used to—"

"Don't give a fuck what you're _used_ to, DO IT!"

Julian made his shield larger, surrounding his companions. "This isn't going to work forever. We need to calm him down."

"Shut up." Logan gazed at Angel. "Warren…calm down. I know you're hurtin'. But I know you're in there, somewhere, an' we just wanna help. Let Elixir here give you a little help, ok—"

"TOUCH ME AND I'LL KILL YOU!" Angel screamed, charging forward and plunging his arms right through the shield like it wasn't even there.

"ARGHH!" Julian shouted, grabbing his head in pain. The shield collapsed.

Warren grabbed Josh by the throat and held him up in the air. "MAKE IT STOP!" he roared again, his metal wings sweeping around him.

James jumped on his back and shoved the blade of one of his hunting knives against his throat. "Get it together, man! Or I'll slice your neck open!"

Angel dropped Josh then slammed into the ceiling and back down. He punched James in the face. "MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP! ARRRGHHH!"

"You can have whatever you want!" Logan yelled, his voice full of panic.

That was what really got to Julian. He'd never heard Logan sound like that. He needed to _do_ something, now. Warren was careening around like an injured animal, ready to rip them all to shreds. He shook his head, then gathered himself and charged, as hard and fast as he could. Not nearly as powerfully as he had the night he took on Kingpin, but still, enough to send himself and Angel crashing through the glass balcony window. It shattered, glass shards flying everywhere. They tumbled to the deck, and Angel whipped around, tip of his blade-wing slamming towards his throat. But he stopped just short, as Julian started to speak.

"Go ahead." He glared up at Warren. "Not sure what you're going to get out of it, but if you want to be a killer that bad…don't stop on my account."

"…" Angel paused. Then he seemed to realize that he was outside. He was free. He launched into the sky, barely even flapping his wings.

A moment later, he was gone.

Logan reached the balcony door. "Kid! The fuck was that?!"

Julian closed his eyes. "How about asking if I'm okay or something?"

"I know you're fine." Pause. Logan eyed him. "You're not screamin', so you're fine. Now, what the hell were you thinkin'?"

"I got him out of the confined space where he was going to kill _everyone._ " Julian sat up, rubbing his throat. "You're welcome."

"Thanks." James was also at the door, wiping blood away from his nose. "Warren doesn't look like much, but he punches like a semi."

Logan grunted. "Everyone back inside. _Now._ "

* * *

"Feels so weird to be staying in Warren's house, when he's out there somewhere, completely insane." Julian was leaning on the railing again, watching the sky. "Think I should, like, go look for him or something?"

"I wouldn't." James paused. "Then again, he didn't try to flatten you, so maybe I'm just not feeling all that concerned right now."

Several hours had passed since Warren had shot off. Josh had taken care of everyone's injuries, and all the blood had been washed away, even off the walls and floors. Julian had volunteered for that chore, seeing as none of it was his, and he felt kind of lousy for not shielding them. What had he been thinking?

Probably that they were all such badasses that they didn't need his help.

"Yeah." Julian looked down at the hill below the porch, which was now covered in snow and realized, with a start, that this was the third time he was seeing snow since Laura had turned her back and walked away. It had snowed just two months after that. Which meant…it had now been two years.

His forehead wrinkled. Somehow, that felt too long and too short all at the same time. How could it have been two _years_ since he last saw her? If he closed his eyes, he could picture her face, as clearly as if she had just left the room.

"You alright man?"

He started and glanced at James, who was watching him with raised eyebrows.

Julian shook his head. "Fine."

"You didn't look fine." James paused. "Want a smoke?" He held the carton out.

"I don't smoke. Thanks though."

"You probably should start." James grinned. "It helps with whatever the hell ails you. Why you think Logan's like a chimney?"

"Because Logan does bad things and then tells you not to do them." Julian was referring to said Logan catching him with a half a bottle of whiskey the other night. Which he'd nicked from the drinks cabinet, after watching him do the same thing just earlier. By the look in Logan's eye, he thought he was going to snap him in half.

"True." James shrugged and shoved the carton back in the pocket of his flannel shirt. "So, what'd you do to make him think you're such a punk?"

"A lot of things." Julian shrugged. "Whatever. I'm just here to learn how to fight."

"Why?" James paused. "Wait, let me guess. Revenge."

"No." Julian frowned. "I've got to help someone. She's…bad people have her, and it's my fault." He felt like that was a severe understatement, but how else could he put it? Laura's story sounded insane. About insane as Warren suddenly trying to kill them all.

"Damn." James frowned too. "Need help?"

"Someday." Julian paused again. "I don't know where she is right now. I have to find her. When I do…I have to be ready."

"Well, let me know." James shrugged. "I've got my reasons for doing this too…but there's no rush. I'm not saving anyone. Just making things right."

The porch door opened, and Josh looked out. "I've had a hell of a day. Who wants to go to town and get wasted with me?"

"I'm in." James straightened, then looked at Julian. "Please tell me you drink, at least."

"Uhh…" Julian paused. "I'm nineteen. And I know _you_ are too, Josh."

"So?" Josh grinned. "I've had more near-death experiences than the average eighty-year-old. I'm mature."

Julian was about to say no, because he didn't want to get in trouble for breaking the law. Then he remembered what they were doing out here, in this mountain hideout. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."

* * *

Julian was sitting alone at the bar, holding a bottle with one hand and slowly peeling the label off with the other, his forehead wrinkled again.

Josh had been right; no one had even asked to see his ID. Even when he had ordered beer. Even when Josh had gotten them all several rounds of shots, promising he would heal them if any misery ensued. He had disappeared a little while ago, with a woman that looked a couple years older than him. She was absolutely fascinated by his golden skin. Julian wondered if he'd broken up with Laurie, but didn't ask.

The woman's friend, who was closer to their age, had expressed a lot of interest in Julian. She had draped herself over the chair next to him and made small talk for about an hour before finally giving up and wandered away. She was probably annoyed by his one-word answers, and the flat tone he delivered them in.

James had also disappeared, but for a different reason. Some guys had been picking on them earlier, trying to heckle them for being mutants. He had cracked his knuckles and told them to meet him outside.

Julian knew he didn't need help. He'd just get in the way. So here he was, buzzed and alone and his mind was doing what it always did when he wasn't busy: went right back to Laura, like she was a magnet and his thoughts were metal shavings. He put the bottle down and leaned his face in his hands.

Two _years_ with that piece of shit in the lab coat. With Kimura. If Kimura had hacked her apart in the—what—hour that he'd been unconscious, what had she done to her by now? Was she still herself? _Of course._ Laura had come from that world, somehow. She would survive. Right? He felt his eyes burn, and he gritted his teeth.

He finally reached into his pocket and pulled out a few bills, tossed them on the counter, and slid off his stool.

To come face to face with Logan. Who did _not_ look impressed. "Kid."

"Oh shit." Julian swayed slightly. "Uh…"

Logan shook his head. "Thought I made it clear. No drinkin' under Warren's roof."

"Technically…we're not under his roof right now." Julian paused. "And come on, cut us some slack. Warren tried to _kill_ us."

Logan closed his eyes. "I oughta drag your ass outta here. But that means I'd have to leave without my beer…so Keller, you goddamn sit back down in that chair and _no more drinkin'_ , you got it?"

"I was leaving anyway." But Julian did as told, then looked at the floor, his eyebrows drawn together. "It's been two years."

"Yup." Logan flagged down the bartender. "Wild Turkey. Neat."

The man poured the beverage into a dirty glass and slid it down the table to Logan, who caught it easily and downed it in one go.

"Why haven't I been able to find her?" Julian paused. "I _looked._ I've gone out every night…well, I did. Before all this."

"Maybe you were lookin' too hard." Logan paused. "Or in the wrong places. I don't have the answers."

Julian gave him a hard look. "She's _your_ clone. You introduced her to us as your _sister._ Doesn't that mean she's your _family?_ "

Logan sighed. "Kid…something' you gotta understand. Weapon X ain't a joke. I been fightin' them my whole life…and I haven't won yet. I don't even know how long that's been. I don't even know how deep it goes." Pause. "Two years? Drop in the bucket, kid. Welcome to the rest of your life."

Julian stared at him. "The Facility…is Weapon X?"

"What the hell did you _think_ it was? A candy factory?" Logan shrugged. "Everything with claws or a healing factor…or that the sun touches…is Weapon X."

"…" Julian's forehead wrinkled. "Well, shit."

"Yep." Logan paused, glanced at him. "So. My clone, huh?"

Julian leaned back on his chair. "She's not your clone. Not really."

"She's who I would be if I'da been one chromosome different. Well, there's a bit of modifications…but not much."

"…" Julian shuddered.

"Thought so." Logan paused. "I dunno. I hated teachin' you. I thought you'd turn out to be another big bad someday. Like Magneto. That time we caught you rilin' up the cafeteria about how mutants have to stick together…"

"And I was right." Julian gave him a firm look. "Here we are, fighting to survive."

Logan grunted, flagged down the bartender again, and then caught his second Wild Turkey. "Here we are."

Both fell silent.

"You understand, even if we get her outta there…she's always gonna be there. In some way." Logan frowned. "She ain't never goin' to leave the Facility completely. Never gonna be a normal girl that—"

"This isn't about—" Julian paused. "It's not about what I _want_. It's about making things right. And making sure the Facility can't keep hurting her. I'm not expecting anything."

Logan gazed at him. "It's easy to _say_ you have no expectations."

"I don't." Julian paused. "I just want her to have a choice."

"Life's not fair." Logan shrugged. "If we all had choices, the world would stand still. No one would get there way, 'cause someone would always be choosin' the opposite of you. An' when they do choose what you want, it's usually 'cause it benefits them in some other way."

Julian gave him an uncertain look. Despite the fact that Logan used to be his teacher, he wasn't used to the older man actually _teaching_ him things. Which he'd been doing a lot, lately. Then again, he wasn't used to any of this. He'd left his old life far, far behind.

"I still want to give Laura a choice." Julian paused. "That's _my_ choice."

"Who said you get one either?" Logan looked at his glass. "I'm just warnin' you. Got to be realistic. If you're committing yourself to fightin' Weapon X, be prepared to die. An' know it won't be some big great thing. It'll be a quick snuff-out, like the Purifier's cannon fodder, and then a hole in the ground, if you're lucky. But it might be the incinerator. Or maybe formaldehyde."

"…" Julian gritted his teeth. "If I have to die to get her out of there, so be it. But I need to be ready for it. So I actually accomplish something."

"You got a long way to go, kid." Logan shrugged. "But don't think I can stop you, so good luck. Hope you don't die for nothin'." He downed his drink, then shoved some bills on the table beside Julian's and got up. "Come on, got to locate Proudstar and Foley before they get themselves into real trouble."

Julian followed him silently, hoping they wouldn't be able to find the latter. He could guess what Josh and his new friend were up to, and he really didn't want to watch Logan walk in on them.

* * *

By the time he finally sank into his bed, Julian was thoroughly exhausted. And still a little buzzed. And frustrated with himself, about letting time slip by.

He suspected it was only going to get worse. This little thing he had agreed to, killing for Summers, was eating up all his time now. Between Lady Deathstrike, the initial training, and joining this team, three months had just slipped by, and he hadn't gone out looking for her once. Not _once._ There was a line between preparing and losing focus entirely.

He rolled over and gazed up at the ceiling. Then again, all he'd found in his searches before this was dead end after dead end. Tonight, Logan had made it sound like he should just give up entirely. Let them win. Let them just take Laura forever, and never think about her again. If it had been anyone else who said it, he would have told them to go fuck themselves. But Logan _knew_ what he was talking about.

Right?

Could he do that? His forehead wrinkled. Just give up on her, like everyone else had? Allow himself to get wrapped up in something else? _This_ , maybe? No one would blame him. No one would even notice.

Maybe he could. He'd forgotten Sofia, right? He had thought about her maybe once, twice, in the last few years, and even then, that was only when he was comparing his current life to the way it used to be. He didn't miss her. He just barely remembered her face. A person he had seen every day for years. Had countless fantasies about. Thought was the one. He'd known Laura for a _month._ Surely, he could forget her even faster, if he actually tried.

He turned his head and looked out the window. It was snowing again. Big, soft flakes, drifting lazily through the night. Warren was still out there, somewhere. Hopefully his wings hurt less now. That had looked really painful.

His eyes began to slide shut.

He was in the arcade again, leaning on the machine, gazing at her. He'd never seen eyes like hers. A fresh, vivid green that reminded him of grass and trees, right after it rained. Or apples. Or the light his telekinesis gave off. Some of his favorite things. He felt like he needed to commit her eyes to memory. Like he wouldn't see them again for a long, long time.

"What—what are you doing?" she murmured.

"Kissing you." He leaned closer. "I hope."

He could feel her heat against his skin. Her lips parted, but she didn't say anything. Good. His heart was starting to beat in his ears. He'd underestimated just how much he wanted this. He was beginning to tingle, and he hadn't even touched her yet. He'd never been so focused on one area of his body before. He felt his eyes start burning.

 _Not yet._ He tried to fight it off, but it was too strong. His skin was beginning to feel wet. "Laura…" he breathed. "Don't do it. I don't care what they do to me. It's not—"

He shook his head, as the mask cut off whatever he was going to say. He was surrounded by bubbles in the trigger scent. This was it. The one green thing he really fucking hated. It reminded him of everything the facility stood for. How could Laura have come from this place? What had they done to her, to make her so afraid of this fluid? He bit down on his gag-slash-airmask, feeling a surge of hatred for Kimura.

The ant that had ruined his picnic.

Laura's fingers were sliding down the glass. She was turning away. He felt that same twist in his stomach that he always did, at this part. Beneath all the hatred, the need to undo her sacrifice, the need to make things right…he missed her.

She walked away, and the light around him faded. He thought that was it, but he sensed something ahead. Someone. He walked toward it slowly.

The man in the lab coat was standing over Laura, who was seated in something that looked vaguely like a dentist's chair. Her hands and feet were held by strange metal cases that looked vaguely like muffs. Probably devices to prevent her from popping her claws.

A few feet away stood Kimura, watching with folded arms.

Julian's hands tightened into fists.

The man walked around her, examining her head. "Wish I had thought of this before we infused her skull. No way to cut through it now."

"If she quit screwing around, we wouldn't _have_ to do this." Kimura raised her eyebrows. "I swear…Harkins. Give me five minutes with that kid she likes…let me rip something off at least…she'll quite being picky and turning her nose up at perfectly good kills."

Laura closed her eyes.

"This will work just as well." Harkins looked at Kimura. "Better. I don't feel like wasting resources on a lure again. Do you understand just _how_ much we lucked out, with the timing, the first time? If that baby hadn't shown up when it did, the X-men would _still_ be looking for us. We'd all be sitting in jail. Maybe worse." Pause. "Not risking that. Not when I'm already so close to a solution. I just have to figure out how to get it in there."

"Hrrrmph." Kimura shifted. "Whatever. I get the control switch, right?"

"When you're on assignment." Harkins returned his gaze to Laura. "Hmmm. Piece of carbonadium with a retrieval string, shove it up there…then just remove her nose entirely. That ought to give me room to operate. I don't actually need to reach the olfactory bulb. Just the nerves." He reached up to his shoulder, pressed something. "Anesthetics to room nineteen."

"Oh come on." Kimura rolled her eyes. "She doesn't need that."

"I need her to remain perfectly still. This is delicate work."

"You really think I can't hold her still?" Kimura moved over to stand by the chair, then grabbed Laura's head. "I could probably still warp her skull if I wanted to. Used to be able to crush it. But I won't have a problem keeping her still."

Harkins paused, then tapped his shoulder again. "Cancel Anesthetics. Take the afternoon off."

Laura gazed up at them both, her eyes wide.

" _Ughn—"_ Julian sat up, his heart pounding, his forehead wrinkled.

The last part of the dream had felt so real. It had been one of those ones he was convinced was something that had actually happened. They were frustrating, since he felt like he should be able to _use_ them somehow, to figure out where she was.

How was he seeing them? Was it telepathy, or something? He'd heard of people developing secondary powers later in life. Usually out of necessity. Frost had first turned into a diamond to survive the attack on Genosha, for example.

What had they been about to _do_ to Laura?

There was a loud CRASH! from downstairs. Warren? Julian scrambled out of bed and pulled on his uniform very quickly, in case it wasn't. Then he ripped his door open and ran down the hall, joining Josh and James, both of which were yawning and still dressed in their pajamas.

"Suit up!" he hissed.

"Why?" James grunted.

"In case someone's here to ask questions." Julian headed toward the stairs and peered over the railing.

Warren's front door was open, swinging slightly in the wind. Snow was blowing into his foyer. And there was a big man lying sprawled on the wood floor. Bleeding.

He had gray hair, and metal arms. And lots of guns.

"Nathan!" James pushed him out of the way and hopped over the railing, landing beside the man. "Get the fuck over here, Josh! He needs healing!"

"Shit!" Josh ran down the stairs, almost tripping over himself. "What happened?"

"Heal first, ask questions later!" James snapped, in a pretty good imitation of Logan.

Julian's eyebrows drew together, and he joined them down on the floor, watching as Josh pressed his fingertips against the man's arm. He looked familiar, and for a moment he struggled to recall where he'd seen him before. Finally, he remembered: in the Danger Room database. This was Cable.

This was the man Summers said could help him become a stronger telekinetic.

Josh's forehead wrinkled. "I can't…grr…god damn it, something's fighting me again. It's…it's like it was with Warren earlier."

"T/O virus." Cable said this. His voice was gruff, kind of like Logan's, but his pronunciation was more clipped.

"The hell is T/O?" Josh sat back on his heels.

"Techno organic." Cable pushed himself off the floor. The front of his blue uniform was soaked with blood, and Julian could see he had been stabbed very deeply. Multiple times. And his neck was bleeding, slowly.

"How the hell are you talking?" Josh paused. "I couldn't do much. Do you have a healing factor or something?"

"Not exactly." Cable paused. "The T/O's taking care of it. I'm just holding the wounds together with my mind…trying to make sure the virus doesn't spread outside those areas."

Julian stared at him, fascinated.

"I need Logan. Where's Logan? He's here, right?" Cable paused. "Go get him."

"Logan's right here." He was walking in from the living room, probably having been smoking outside. "Figured I'd give you a few seconds with Elixir first."

"There was a girl. Just like you." Cable coughed, and blood bubbled out of the corner of his mouth.

Logan sniffed the air and frowned. "Don't smell anythin'." His eyes had widened slightly at the mention of _just like you._

"She attacked us. Went after Hope." Cable coughed again. "Hope's out there, on her own, I need someone to—"

Logan held up his hand. "Okay. We got this, Nathan. You just let Elixir work on patchin' you up."

"But my heals don't—" Josh began.

"Use fuckin' bandaids then!" Logan snapped. "Warpath, Hellion, you two—"

Julian was already moving toward the door. _There was a girl. Just like you._ His heart had started racing. He was outside and had launched himself into the crisp night air before Logan could even yell after him.


	16. Chapter 16 - Just Like You Imagined

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews! This chapter is named after one of my fave NiN songs. Also, a lot of you have been asking about an alert you received recently, about this chapter being published. I did publish a few days ago, but immediately retracted it as I realized I needed to change something. Since I knew no one would have read it yet, and knew it would bug me otherwise, I decided to fix the part that needed fixing. Hope you all enjoy and thanks for reading. Let's hit a hundred reviews, only eight away!

* * *

CHAPTER 16

 _Just Like You Imagined_

* * *

DAY ONE

"RISE AND SHINE, CLONE!"

Laura squinted against the bright light. It had been completely dark inside the tiny adamantium-and-steel cell, and she had not been able to move for hours. Not even her head. They had shoved her in here. All had been silent. The only sensory input had been the occasional jostle, and the pain in her regrowing arm. They had taken her somewhere.

Kimura grinned at her, then reached in and pinched her nose. "We're going to have _fun,_ aren't we?"

Laura glared at her. She could not breathe, with her nose pinched, and with the rubber gag in her mouth. But she was not about to show Kimura how frightened she was. Not because she was ashamed, but because Kimura would see it still disturbed her.

And then it would become a regular torture method. She knew this from experience.

"I wish we could keep you in this box all the time." Kimura paused. "I wish I could _bury_ you in it. Stupid Harkins. Then again…he _did_ invent the box in the first place, so where does that leave me?"

Laura waited. Her eyes were beginning to burn. But she could not help the sound. The desperate, ragged noise as her lungs tried to draw air.

"I thought so." Kimura grinned, leaned closer. "My therapist suggested I work out some of my anger physically. I'm sure he meant exercise, 'cause not everyone's lucky enough to have a punching bag like _you_."

"…" Laura's face was turning red.

Kimura continued to hold her nose. "Too bad no one's going to save you when _you're_ running out of air, huh? Bet the kid hasn't thought about you once since he got out of here."

"…gnnn…" Laura's eyes started to slide closed. She wondered if Kimura would misjudge the amount of oxygen she required to survive, and she would die right now.

The hand released her nose, and suddenly she was gulping down air.

"Don't worry." Kimura grinned. "We're just getting started. I'm going to punish you for all the lives you've taken…and you're going to take _more._ " Pause. "I'd say welcome to hell…but I don't believe clones have souls."

Laura closed her eyes.

* * *

She was at the doorway again, looking in.

The tank was just ahead. She knew she would walk to it, and then Harkins would begin to talk to her. It felt as if something she was meant to do. Something she was expected to do. Like a training simulation. But she must mirror _herself._ Her eyes flitted over the tank. It was strange to see this all again, without the original shock, and fear. She knew what would happen this time. She walked toward Julian slowly, letting the arm she was carrying drop to the floor with a thud, then pressed her fingers against the glass that separated them. Was this a dream?

"Not … magic word … for… deal? Yes…free. No… dies right…"

Laura looked over her shoulder.

Harkins was speaking to her, but his voice was fading in and out. She could see, out of the corner of her eye, that his form was vague. Incomplete. His face was just a blur.

Her eyebrows drew together. "I…yes." She said this softly.

"Good…but…need you…escaping…go…even think about…got them here….do it again."

She nodded slightly. "Please…air."

Julian was struggling beside her. Then the bubbles started again, as the air supply was turned back on. This was the moment that she had stood, studying his face. His thick eyelashes, the light dusting of freckles on his nose, the way his eyebrows arched when he was unconscious. She pressed her fingers against the glass again, biting her lip. Hard. His eyelids were fluttering. Now he was watching her, too, obviously trying to understand what was happening.

Then his eyes widened. "NO!" he shouted, shaking his head from side to side. "Laura, _don't!_ There's another way. You can't do this! Not for _me!_ Mmm-mmmmph! Mmm- _mmmmph!_ "

Laura's eyebrows drew together. He had not spoken during this moment. He could not. Was this what he had been trying to say?

She closed her eyes slowly, then turned away. "I am ready."

But she was not. Not really. She wanted to stay here, with him, in the last moment they had been together. Here in this dream, or whatever it was, where she knew he would survive.

But when Kimura issued her the order to leave, she obeyed, walking away with her head hung.

"Uhhn—" Laura's head snapped up. She was laying on the hard shelf in her new holding cell. It was a dark space, without lights or heat, or fabric. Just a metal shelf to sleep on, and in one corner, a metal toilet with no water and adamantium reinforcements. All designed to prevent her from killing herself.

She sat up slowly, gazing into the darkness, thinking about her choice. Snkkt!

 _You can't do this! Not for me!_

Her claw tips glided through the skin of her wrist. In the dark, her arm looked white, and the blood welling up looked black. It had all reformed perfectly, and the claws had been re-implanted. But she did not care.

She focused on the realization that in the moment, it had never even occurred to her that perhaps she should refuse Harkins, and allow Julian to die. To choose her own life over his. But she did not want him to die, either. Somehow, she sensed it was something she would never forgive herself for. Sarah's death had haunted her, but she understood she had not been given a choice. But what if she had? Her claw sunk deeper.

And what about the implications of that choice? The facility would use her again. That was certain. She would be used to kill, over and over. A tool. A machine, for death. The people she killed would not be associated with the facility, not like the ones she had killed at the harbor. She would not even know if they would be people who deserved death.

But she knew Julian did not. Of that, she was certain. She shook her head slightly. Snakt! She had done the right thing. She might not be near him anymore, but he was alive, and safe. That was what mattered. She hoped Cessily and Santo were safe, too, but she had no way of knowing.

She could only wish they were.

* * *

YEAR ONE

Laura eyed the tank warily. Kimura was leading her toward it. Her arms were fastened securely behind her back, as per usual, and the adamantium cuffs around her ankles made walking difficult. She knew whatever awaited her was not a pleasant thing.

She had her guesses to what it may be. She had heard Harkins murmuring to his assistant about having finally obtained the "bio-organic formula," which was expensive but "worth it" since they could send her on bigger contracts afterward.

"An investment." Those were his words.

She bit down on her gag as Harkins entered the room, holding a box of small metal implements. "Feel like some acupuncture?" he asked lightly.

"You should really just do it manually." Kimura wrinkled her nose. "Like Weapon X…coat them one bone at a time. Can't beat doing it by hand."

"Infusion gives a more uniform result. And will have less of the poisoning effects, since her bones will essentially integrate with the material, and still be able to get nutrients in and out for erythropoiesis." Harkins put the box down. "Also…not that I care, but I figured you'd like this part, since you're all about the pain scale. It's a twenty."

"…" Kimura held a hand in the air. "Forget I said anything."

* * *

The room was dark, except for the glass tank, which glowed gently. Laura writhed in the bubbles. Nothing had hurt up to this point. Nothing would ever hurt again. There was nothing except the metal slowly spreading across her bones. Sinking in. And the fire. She was on fire. On the inside. Her bones were on fire.

She was not sure how long she had been there for. A minute. A year. Something caught her eye. Or her ear. She slowly looked at the glass wall in front of her. There was nothing. Yet she sensed, somehow, that she was not alone. It was like the dream. Was she dreaming?

She tried to press her fingers to the glass. "Help me. Please."

But all that happened was her fingers twitched, and she groaned, long and hard. She was no longer capable of movement.

She let herself drift away, clinging to the thought. _I am not alone._

* * *

"She's clumsy." Harkins was speaking to Kimura, in the observation room. Laura was gazing up at them, the simulated blood from the hologram fading from her skin.

"Told you the adamantium was a dumb idea." Kimura smirked. "The clone has always been hopeless, but now she's just pathetic. You should scrap her and start over."

"We have too much invested. Given time and practice, she'll make a full recovery." Harkins paused. "Not a bad idea though. Clones…this place has room. We have the staff, the funding…why not? Then we won't have _any_ booking conflicts. I mean, we lost—what—ninety mill during this downtime?"

"A hundred." Kimura folded her arms. "You forgot the Fisk offer."

"Damnit." Harkins clenched his fist. "That seals it. We're going into full production mode."

"I doubt there's any of the sample left. And it was damaged anyway." Kimura paused. "Weapon X is all stingy about his body materials these days. I suppose I could—"

"No need." Harkins glanced down at Laura. "We've got a sample right here."

"What—clone _X-23?!_ " Kimura's eyes widened. "Have you lost your fucking marbles?! We were _just_ discussing what a failure she is!"

"Nothing to do with her genetics. If there was one thing Kinney was good at, it was cloning." Harkins shook his head. "The problem is, Rice was an idiot and let X-23 have human contact left, right, and center. Especially with Kinney." Harkins grinned. _"I'm_ not about to go and play mother to any clones I make. The next gen isn't going to have any problems in that regard. They won't even need trigger scent."

Kimura's nose wrinkled. "You're the boss." Pause. "Guess I'll believe it when I see it."

Laura felt a cold chill creeping down her spine.

* * *

YEAR TWO

Laura hesitated, her fingers on the tiny foil envelope she knew, from experience, contained a dab of trigger scent. She had done this same mission just two weeks ago. Act as an escort, slip the envelope to her target, then extract herself once she cleared. Although it had not been listed on the dossier, the presence of the envelope meant there were children present. She was meant to kill them all.

Someone had paid to have this man's entire family killed.

Her fingers parted again, leaving the envelope in its place, tucked into the secret pocket in her underwear. Instead, she inched her target backward, toward the bed, then pushed him down against the mattress, pretending to unhook her bra with one hand. As if they were going to have intercourse. Harkins had brought in a professional to train her in these motions. Her other grabbed a pillow, and before said target could react, she had it pressed against his face.

She held it there till the kicking stopped, then pulled her clothes back on and slipped out the window, her lips pressed into a line.

There would be consequences.

* * *

Laura slid along the floor on her back, her hair wound up on the top of her head, into a rope that Kimura was dragging her along by. She was bleeding profusely from when Kimura had shot her with her effective but expensive Carbonadium bullets. Then she had beaten her, with her hands and with a crowbar. Her bones had not broken, but they had dislocated, and her flesh was covered in black and purple bruises.

"HARKINS!" Kimura roared, not bothering with her communicator.

Footsteps. "What is this? You're making a mess—"

"I don't fucking care!" Kimura let go of her hair, and her head fell to the ground. Laura's eyes began to slide shut. "…refused again…blocked the trigger…time to trash…other clones now…don't need…"

"Let's not be hasty…investment…idea…" Harkin's voice was fading steadily.

Laura's eyes rolled up in her head. When she next came to, she had healed, but her limbs were secured to a reclined chair, and Harkins was telling Kimura all about his idea.

Her eyebrows drew together. She should have given the man the trigger scent packet.

* * *

The pain of the procedure to implant the trigger scent simulator was nothing in comparison to the consequences.

Laura realized this as she knelt in the center of the village, wiping blood out of her eyes, bullets slowly squeezing out of her abdomen and raising small puffs of dust as they impacted with the dirt beneath her knees. Which was also soaked with blood.

She was somewhere in southern Africa. The village had been a small, thriving community, full of laughter and bustle and color. Children, pulling at their mother's skirts, helping to carry basketfuls of goods to the market. Some had been playing. There was a grid scratched into the dirt beside her, for one of their games.

She had frozen, standing in the helicopter's exit door, her hair billowing around her from the blowback of wind from the whirling blades above, as they hovered over the village. Then a boot had planted itself in the small of her back and given her a shove.

Somewhere during the fall, Kimura had pressed the button, and her nose had begun to prickle.

Laura's was the only heartbeat now.

She gazed at her splayed fingers. She had never seen so much blood. Not even when she had killed Sarah. Blood so dark it was almost black. Coating her skin, as if she had been dipped in paint. Her hands began to shake.

Someone landed behind her, the ground shaking slightly from the impact. Kimura. Laura now recognized her by her absence of scent. She and Laura were the only two to have their scents permanently camouflaged, via a masking technology that forced their odors to mimic chemicals in their environment.

"Wow, clone!" Kimura reached down, grabbed a handful of her hair. "You really did a _number_ on this place. I mean…you got the rebel targets…but you went _far_ and _beyond_ the call of duty." She yanked her head to the side, directing Laura's gaze. "Awww, lookit those two lil kiddies over there. Still clutching school books. Think you went into the _school?_ " Kimura's voice was gleeful. "Oh, I'll just bet you did! Let's go see!"

"No—" Laura's voice was thick.

"What was that?" Kimura pulled her up to eye level, her smile disappearing. "Did you forget so soon? You. Don't. Say. No."

Laura's eyes squeezed closed. But they were pried open later.

* * *

"This is going to be _good_." Kimura grinned. "I'm _so_ glad I thought of this. I almost did it myself…but _damn,_ I would have been missing out big time." She was holding Laura's chains with her unbreakable grip. Even though she did not need to. Laura had long since given up on the idea of resisting where she was being led. She had long since given up resisting at all.

There was no point. _You don't say no._ She knew others would pay the price of her refusals.

"You're no fun these days. So _obedient._ " Kimura rolled her eyes. "Like you're a game avatar or something." She yanked on the chain, and Laura stumbled against the wall. "Don't get me wrong. It's the best game in the world, sending one little insignificant clone against guerrilla fighters…but it gets boring after a while, y'know? We need some _variety._ "

Laura said nothing. It was best if she said nothing.

Kimura wrinkled her nose. "I have the _best_ punishment in mind. So time to quit being goody two-shoes."

They reached the doors of the exercise room, which slid open, to reveal...

Laura stiffened, inhaling sharply.

Standing in the room, beside a gruff-looking man she had seen in the halls before, was a tiny, perfect replica of _herself._ Long, straight dark hair, wide green eyes, small hands balled up into fists at her sides. The only difference was that she was younger. Perhaps four years old.

One of her clones. She had never met them before, or smelled them, since they seemed to have had the scent masking procedure too. But she had known they were around. The number of personnel at the facility had increased drastically. The man must be the girl's handler.

"X-23." Kimura's voice was firm. "This clone is a biological success. Valid healing factor. Viable mind. But it has failed the anti-empathy training…so it is faulty." She glanced at Laura. "Kill it."

The smaller clone wrinkled her nose, gazing up at Laura. Then she looked up at her handler, as if for guidance. Probably wondering if this was an exercise.

Laura stared at the girl. "No."

Kimura folded her arms. "Do I hear you right, X-23? Are you refusing to obey orders again?" She looked like she wanted Laura to say yes.

"…" Laura hesitated. She knew there would be consequences. But she could not, _would not,_ kill this girl. She would take whatever pain may come. "Yes."

"Alright then." Kimura spoke slowly. "Like I said, I have the _perfect_ punishment in mind. She grinned. "Couldn't have planned it better if I had tried."

Laura closed her eyes.

* * *

She was in the arcade again, her back to the machine, gazing up at Julian. She had not dreamed of him in some time now. All her dreams had been of walking through empty villages, the only sound that of her heartbeat echoing loudly in the distance.

His bright blue irises, pupils dilated slightly, were fixed on her. And only her. She exhaled slowly, feeling her skin start to burn. But now, it was gentle, pleasant.

"What—what are you doing?" she murmured. It was what she was supposed to say.

"Kissing you." He leaned closer. "I hope."

She could feel his heat against her skin, and her lips parted, but she did not say anything. The tingling was getting stronger. She could feel his heat against her skin. Their heart beats were rising, but it was not threatening. It was...anticipation. She wished he would hurry up and touch her.

Then he paused, and she knew he was about to go somewhere. To leave. "Laura…" he breathed. "Don't do it. I don't care what they do to me. It's not—"He faded away.

She could almost taste her disappointment. She felt a surge of frustration, something she rarely encountered, because she was tactically flawless. Only _he_ had ever made her feel this sensation. Why?

The dream changed.

She was lying in the reclined operating chair, her arms and legs held down by adamantium cuffs. Her eyebrows drew together. Why was she dreaming of _this?_ The surgery to implant the trigger scent device had been painful, but she did not even think about it. The part that mattered to her was its effects.

Harkins and Kimura were talking, about the device. She ignored them and tried to scan the room, whenever she was able, to see if _he_ was here, listening somehow. But there was nothing.

It was just a feeling.

SHLPPT!

Laura sat up, rubbing her eyes. She must have nodded off.

She had been sitting in her small, dark cell, waiting for Kimura to come fetch her, for whatever punishment she had invented. It had been a while since she had ordered her to kill the clone, and with each passing hour, Laura grew more nervous.

The sound had been a manila folder slipping under the door of her cell. It would contain a mission dossier. She approached it carefully and picked it up, then opened it and began to read. The paper was slightly grainy by her night vision, the pictures black-and-white, but she could still make out enough information.

Laura froze as she saw the first picture, her eyebrows drawing together. An older looking man with pale hair, and a square, rugged face. One eye was glowing slightly. She recognized him. Nathan Summers. An X-man. Faint telekinesis, telepathy, and weaponry. He was Scott Summers's son.

The second was of a girl that she did not know. She had shoulder-length hair, dark, brown or red. She was smiling. It looked as if she had been with someone else in the photo, but they had been cropped out. The girl's abilities, if any, were unknown.

There was a watch. It said 23:00:00 in big glowing green numbers.

Laura closed her eyes. Then she wrapped the watch around her wrist and fastened it securely, then backed into the corner of her cell. They would come to transport her soon, and if she stood at the front, they would taze her.

* * *

Laura leaned against the helicopter's exit.

She was relieved that they had travelled so far north. She was not certain exactly where they were, but it was nowhere near Xavier's school, which she had been very afraid of, at first. She realized that she had been afraid Kimura's punishment would involve Julian somehow, but she must be respecting the orders to leave him alive as long as Laura was compliant.

Perhaps this mission was the punishment. It _was_ difficult, and she did not want to do it. But Laura could not afford to give Kimura an excuse to dispose of her. Not now that she had confirmation of the other clones. She needed to deal with them, somehow. She was not certain how, yet. If they were like her, then they must be killed. But if there was any chance that they were not…

Her eyes scanned the snowy ground far beneath, searching for her targets. There! She saw them, two specks in the snow, walking. There was a flash as the larger figure looked up, probably hearing the helicopter. They started to run.

Laura dove before Kimura could kick her out of the plane, popping her claws. _Snkkt!_

She hit the ground a few moments later, on all fours, then scrambled up and began to run after her targets, her teeth gritted. They were making good time in the snow, but the man was weighed down by all his combat gear. He seemed to realize it was futile, and swung around, his enormous assault rifle pointing right for Laura's torso.

He squeezed the trigger without hesitation. _BUDABUDABUDABUDABUDA—_

Laura shielded herself the best she could with her claws, then reached him and swiped, cutting off the muzzle of his firearm.

He swung and punched Laura in the face. "RUN!" he yelled to his companion, the little girl, who was watching with wide eyes.

Laura sprang again, this time ramming her clawed fist through his protective gear and ripping her fists upward. He let out a wheeze, which informed her she had hit at least one lung. "…Hope…run!" he wheezed. "NOW!"

 _BUDABUDABUDABUDA—_ the girl had grabbed his other rifle, and was firing at Laura, bracing desperately against the kickback. She collapsed in the snow.

Laura closed her eyes, thenshoved the man off of claws with her booted foot, and retracted them with a _Snakt!_ She turned to the girl—Hope—ready to strike. But for a moment, she gazed down at her in the snow, unable to make the movement to pop her claws again.

" _Hurrk—"_ she grabbed at her throat as the man jumped her from behind, slicing through her flesh with a wire. It stopped at her adamantium-infused vertebrae. _Snkkt!_ She blindly stabbed upward, then pulled the wire out of her throat and gasped for air as it healed.

Then she turned around and stabbed the man in his torso several times. She finished with a neck puncture, then scrambled after the girl, who was disappearing over the snow-covered hill and into the night.

* * *

Laura slowed as she approached the clearing. She knew the child had come this way, from the evidence of the covered-up tracks, but she did not see her up ahead. The child was reckless, as she had proved in the earlier fight. She may be lying in wait to ambush her. If she did, that would make things easier. Quicker. She looked around. The only sounds came from her own cardiopulmonary system. The only motion was her breath, clouds drifting into the dark air. The clearing was empty. How had she slipped away so quickly? Teleportation? Flight? The dossier had said the man possessed faint telekinesis. Was the girl his daughter?

There was a sound, in the distance. It was a familiar sound. A low hum. Psionic energy. Perhaps her train of thought was correct. She turned towards the sound, but as she did, her eyebrows drew together.

She recognized the green glow instantly, shining like a beacon in the night sky.

"No." She said this out loud, even though no one would hear her. It was involuntary. She looked around again, as if to find a place to hide, but she knew it was too late. Julian had seen her, and was heading towards her rapidly.

He touched down nearby, skidding the last few steps in the snow. "Laura."

Laura gazed at him for a moment, unable to speak. Then she turned and began to run. And was dragged backwards.

Julian turned her around to face him, then folded his arms and glared at her. "How about 'hello'?" He looked different than the last time she had seen him for real. Thinner. His hair was rumpled. He had not shaved in several days. His uniform was different, grey and black, his eyes and nose concealed by a mask. But she would recognize him anywhere, even if he hadn't spoken, or used his powers. Even if she could not detect his scent. There was just something about him that she knew.

Her eyebrows drew together. "Leave. Now." She tried not to think of what would happen when Kimura pressed the button. She would. She had been wrong. This _was_ the punishment. This had always been the punishment. Kimura did not care about what Harkins had ordered.

"I've been looking for you." He paused. "Everywhere. For two _years."_ He took a step closer, reaching up and pushing his mask up so she could see his eyes. They looked glassy. "There's no one here. Come on, I'm taking you home."

She tried to swing her fist at him, to knock him out. But he dodged the blow and grabbed her wrist. He had gained combat skills. Someone had trained him. She thought she recognized the move. Logan, perhaps?

"You're not going anywhere." He paused, still holding her arm. "Laura…I don't know what the facility did to you…but I'll help you. I'm your _friend_."

"Let go!" She said, an edge of panic creeping into her voice.

Julian shook his head. "No. I can't let you go again." He pulled her closer and silenced whatever she was going to say next with his mouth.

Laura froze. She needed to push him away. Immediately. But she had begun tingling ever where that he was touching her. She had not felt this good since…since the last time he had almost kissed her. It was even better than the dream. For a moment, just a moment, she let her eyes slide shut, and leaned into him. Her ears filled with his breathing, his heart beat, her nose with the smell of his soap and under it, his scent, for which she had no words, but which made her flush with warmth. She could even _taste_ him. He had been drinking. Just a couple of hours ago. His fingers were buried in her hair. He made a soft noise against her mouth. He wanted more. She knew what came next, now. It would be so easy to—

She shoved him, hard. "Go away!"

His forehead wrinkled. "Just tell me what's wrong!" His hands balled into fists. "I want to _help_ you! I _love_ you!"

Laura's eyes widened. She only heard those words before when someone was about to leave her forever. She turned and began to run. She knew it was pointless. But she was desperate. Maybe if she got far enough—

"No!" He shouted after her, grabbing her around her torso with his powers again and yanking her back. "I don't know what they did to you…but you're not going _anywhere._ Not till you tell me what's going on, at least."

Laura's nose prickled.

* * *

Cold. Wet. Gurgling, like a stream. Blood.

Laura tilted her head. The absolute black was giving way to lighter patches. The trigger impulse was clearing. Soon she would be able to see again. Think again. There was something familiar about the blood. She could not yet place it, but she knew it was familiar.

And that familiar meant bad.

She blinked. There was lot of white. And dark fluid. Everything was still blurry. Everything was still too far away. But she was getting closer. Like she was travelling through a tunnel, and had nearly reached the end. She blinked again.

She was crouching, on all fours in the slushy snow, her claws still extended. _Snakt!_ She sat up, wiped something out of her eyes on the back of her arm, then looked at it. Blood. Deep, dark blood. The kind that meant death. _Snff._ Yes, she smelled death.

And she smelled something else. Someone else. "No." Her eyes widened, and she looked all around her. Then she spotted him.

"NO!" She scrambled to his side, the blood draining from her own face as she took in the damage to his body.

Sucking chest wounds. Deep slashes across his abdomen. Multiple lacerations. Possible back wounds, judging by the size of the pool around him. But that could also be from the deep, deep hole in the center of his torso, through his solar plexus, through which blood was jetting in a fountain. And his arms...

Laura's chin trembled, and she shoved both of her own shaking palms onto the fountain, even though she knew it was hopeless. He was dying. He would be dead in under thirty seconds. His heart beat was already becoming irregular. She swallowed, her eyes creeping up to his face. His eyes were glazed. Maybe he _was_ dead. No, there was still blood squirting up between her fingers. She closed her eyes. What did it matter? She had already killed him.

"…L-laura…" he coughed, made a ragged sound, and then blood poured out of his mouth too.

"No, s-stop." She pressed on his wound harder. "Please. Stop. Stop talking."

"...uh huh…" his eyelids began to slide shut. They stopped with his eyes open a crack, and then he stopped moving altogether.

"No!" Laura stared at him, then began to shake him violently. "No, stop! Wake up! Please! You n-need to wake up! JULIAN!" Her face felt wet, but it was not blood anymore. Hot tears were leaking out of her eyes, cutting streams through the red smears on her skin. Finally she scooped his torso up and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his neck as she rocked back and forth. It was becoming difficult to breathe.

She mumbled something she did not understand into his shoulder. Perhaps it was all the words she had failed to say when she had the chance. Maybe he would hear them, somehow, and come back.

But she knew he would not.

Slowly, as if in a dream, she became aware of the approaching helicopter, just behind the hill. She gritted her teeth, her eyebrows drawing together. Let Kimura come. What more could she possibly _do?_

Then she remembered that there was _always_ something Kimura could do. Always some way she could make things hurt more. They had spoken before about taking his brain. She needed to make sure that did not happen. The quickest way would be to destroy it.

 _Snkkt!_ She held up her fist, but somehow, she could not bring the claws down. She lowered her hand and traced her thumb across his mouth, her own trembling. _Snakt!_ Then she shook her head slightly, and began to lift up his torso, her hands under his armpits. Where could she move him to, where Kimura would not think to look?

There was a loud sound. Kimura, yelling. "ARRRGHHH! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY FACE, BIRDMAN!" Shots. The helicopter was breaching the hill, and now Laura could see that the Kimura was firing at a man with metal wings. The lights from the interior of the helicopter glinted off these as he soared around it in a circle. Like a hawk circling its prey.

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She recognized this man. He had been at the school. But his skin had been flesh-toned, not dark blue, and his wings had been organic, coated in fluffy feathers, not metallic. Logan had called him Warren. Was he trying to help her?

"DID YOU HELP THEM?!" Warren screamed at Kimura, sweeping up to the open helicopter side and grabbing at her uniform.

"GRRAHH!" Kimura punched him, hard, making his head snap back. He glared at her and released a spray of razors, but they bounced off her impenetrable skin. "Hah!"

"Uhh—boss—" the pilot yelled. "He's going to rupture the fuel tanks! We gotta get outta here!"

"God _damn_ it!" Kimura sounded annoyed. "Fine, just—SERIOUSLY, FUCK OFF!" she smacked Warren out of her way again, "—sweep down and I'll grab the clone!"

Laura glanced at Julian one last time. He was beginning to turn blue with cold. Then she let him slip out of her arms as she scrambled to her feet, and began to run, her heart pounding, hair flying behind her. She had to make sure Kimura left the area. Maybe Warren would take him back to the school.

She wished he would.


	17. Chapter 17 - Tip of the Iceberg

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews! I agree, Kimura and Dr. Harkins need to die. The question is when? Hope everyone continues to enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 17

 _Tip of the Iceberg_

* * *

Dark. All dark.

Cold. Wet.

Ringing. Ringing all over.

Light. Lots of light. Lots of dark still, but somehow, not as dark as where he'd just been. Like he was travelling through a tunnel, and had nearly reached the end. He?

The ringing was getting sharper. It was starting to separate. Before, he'd been a singular point, but now he was aware of different areas around him. That were part of him.

Time passed. Time?

There was a huge, sudden noise. It was alarming. It sounded like something tearing. Sounded? He blinked. Everything was dark, and blurry. White and black. But he was now aware of _color._ He blinked again, and again. The noise continued, but it was less ragged. There was gurgling. Something wet? Air, rushing into his lungs. He gulped it. _Breathe. Breathe._ The ringing was pain.

Pain!

"—AHHGHH—" he began to twist. Spots swam in front of his eyes, even though they were squeezed shut, tightly. He tossed his head from side to side, then he curled into a ball on his side, groaning and kicking the ground. He was on fire. On the inside.

Time passed. He wasn't sure how long. He finally raised his head again, looked around him, his vision clearer now.

What had happened to him? His head ached like crazy.

His eyes lowered, to his torso, and he started. There was a big metal thing sticking out of his chest. It was strange. Long and tapering. The part disappearing into his chest was very thin. Where had he seen this thing before? His forehead wrinkled, and he reached to pull it out.

And froze.

His hand. It looked strange. It was…shiny. Reflecting slightly in the dark. Metal? He flexed the fingers experimentally. They responded easily. Normally. Just like his hand always did. He lowered it to the snow, his forehead wrinkling as he felt the cold. The wet. Then he reached it up to his cheek and pressed the fingertips against his skin. Definitely metal. But, under the cold of the melted snow droplets, the material felt _warm._ Alive. It was even soft.

He lowered the hand and stared at it again, mystified. Was it _his_? Had his hand turned into metal? Why? His eyes drifted to the side. His other hand had changed, too.

Then his eyes lifted, back to the snow. About five feet away was a huge dark splatter. And in it, he could make out the shape of…of…fingers.

He stared at the detached limb with wide eyes, exhaling hard, blowing out a huge cloud of vapor. He felt a chill crawling up his spine. His hands. Something had…had cut them off and now…he heard voices. He laid down again, closed his eyes. Played dead. Just in case.

"…over there!" A gruff voice.

Scuffling.

"Holy shitballs!" A younger, smoother voice. "Look at all that blood! Oh god, is he breathing?!"

"Amazingly, yeah." Pause. "Get some heals in him, quick."

"On it!" Someone was touching his upper arm. "Here we go, good as—aww, _what the fuck!"_

"Kid?"

"I swear to god, why is _everyone_ tripping on T/O tonight? Why am I even _out_ here?!" The hand pulled away. "I can't—it's the same thing as Angel's wings. I don't know where all the blood came from…but he's almost healed up, as far as I can tell." Pause. "Something is blocking me out. It's got to be T/O again, it feels just like it."

"Shit. Think yer right." Pause. "Lookit his hands. And…that's one of Warren's razors."

"Whoa! You think _Warren_ did this to him?" Pause. "But what about—"

"I can smell Warren. Nothin' else." Another pause. "But that ain't good. I talked to Summers earlier. He said Warren was once one of Apocalypse's horsemen. Death."

"Apocalypse?!"

"Yep. I mean, so was I at one point, so it's not the end of the world—"

"WHAT?!"

"Take it easy, kid. Just sayin'…this ain't good. Don't know if Keller is goin' to flip out, or how bad it'll be. I mean, there's only so much damage a guy with wings and a guy with claws can do…but Keller's got those damn brain powers of his." Pause. "Last time I saw a telekinetic power trippin', it wasn't pretty. Had to put her down."

"Shit. Yeah, that _would_ be bad."

"Yeah." Pause. "I don't see metal anywhere else but his hands. Maybe we can cut the tech outta him. You think you could build him a new set?" SNIKT!

He scrambled backward, suddenly filled with energy. He wouldn't let them touch him.

The man with the gruff voice frowned at him. "Kid. You get the license plate on that bus?"

He watched him mistrustfully. He wanted the claws to go away.

"I might be able to make him sleep." The younger man's skin was golden. "Not sure about making him grow entirely new limbs. I doubt his body has enough material to do that. I just accelerate cell development, you know?" Hesitant pause. "I could _try_ …"

His eyes narrowed. If they tried to touch him…

"He's in shock." The older man gave the younger one a grim look. "Better knock him out. If you can't build him a new set…he's got his brain thing. Better that than leave him with that tech."

He knew they weren't going to leave him alone. Without even knowing he could, he launched himself into the air. There was a massive stab of pain that shot down from his head into his hands, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to stay focused. He flew for about three or four minutes, toward the mountains, then lowered himself to the ground and walked for a while, weaving and almost falling over, shaking his head often to clear it. He had a _massive_ headache now. Spots swam in front of his eyes again. Green spots. He just needed somewhere to relax for a while…sleep…he'd be fine…eventually he picked a spot under a big tree and began to slide down it, his back against its trunk. He was fast asleep before he had even hit the ground.

* * *

Laura gazed at the floor of the helicopter, her eyebrows drawn together, her mouth hanging open slightly. Hot tears leaked steadily down her cheeks and nose, and dropping to the floor of the helicopter, collecting into a pool.

She could still smell his blood. Some had gotten on her garments. She suspected that she would always be able to smell it, even after she was washed and her outfit was changed. Her eyes burned. _I killed him._ The thought was too big to process.

The trigger scent device was not an excuse. She should have tried harder to get away. She should have struck him immediately. Even stabbed him with her claws, in a nonvital area. It would have hurt. But far less than what had come of her hesitation. Her closed her eyes. _I_ killed _him._ She wanted to cut her wrists, but her hands were encased in the adamantium cuffs. She was not able to pop her claws.

"Clone, _look at me._ " Kimura's voice. She was sitting on the opposite bench.

Laura raised her dull gaze slowly to her handler.

"I want you to understand, I mean serious business." Kimura's eyes were narrowed. "Harkins would shit a chicken if he knew about this. He thinks you only care about that stupid kid, but I know better." She leaned forward. "You're going to do every single fucking thing I say from now until the end of time, you got it? Or I will find every single fucking _friend_ you have at that school, and I will make you kill them. Metal girl. Rock boy. Sandy. The spazz with the electricity. I'll find your cousin. And your aunt. And your _grandma,_ who you don't know about yet, but I do _._ And all the little clones who haven't had their healing activated yet. And all the ones that do. And I'll make you kill _them,_ too. I'll do it over and over again, until you get it through your thick metal skull that you will never win. You are broken, understand? You obey only me. Your answer is 'Yes.'"

Laura did not hesitate. "Yes."

"Good." Kimura leaned back. "Harkins is such a dumbfuck…almost stupider than Rice. He's too soft." She folded her arms, gazing at the wall behind Laura. "He's running this company into the goddamn ground."

Laura said nothing. Did nothing. Just breathed, shallowly.

It was not until she had been thrown back into her dark cell, so hard that she slammed into the back wall and slid to the floor, that she allowed herself to think about what Kimura had said. Not just the threats. The rest of it.

Kimura was going to kill Harkins. And take over the facility.

Her breath caught.

She had thought life could not get worse. She was wrong.

Things could get much, _much_ worse.

Laura closed her eyes. Then she realized that her hands were free. _Snkkt!_

She stared down at them. Her claws.

 _I_ love _you!_ Julian had shouted this at her, his voice full of desperation. Confusion.

Laura flinched, her hands beginning to shake. She realized that those were the words she had mumbled into his shoulder. Right after he had stopped breathing. Her eyebrows drew together, and then she rammed her claws at the wall. A jar of pain ran up her arm, as the material refused to give.

She gritted her teeth and then started to rake her claws into her arm, in vicious, sawing motions. Even though she knew it was futile. Her body would just continue putting itself back together.

Like it always did.

* * *

Julian was tingling, everywhere. His arms were full of _her_ , as was his mouth. He pulled her closer to him, realizing just how much he had missed her. How had he survived this long? It was like he had been pretending a stab wound was a paper cut. He buried his fingers in her hair. He was somewhere really cold, but he didn't care. She made him feel warm. Everywhere. He was collecting his brain cells enough so he could take her away. That was the only problem about telekinesis. His powers didn't work very well when he was this turned on. She lit him up like a wildfire. _Focus!_ He snapped at himself. He had to get them out of there. Now.

She melted away. He was holding nothing. Nothing. He heard running footsteps ahead.

"No!" He charged after her, into the darkness. He caught a glimpse of her. White tank top. Pale skin. Grass under her bare feet. This was years ago. He reached out toward her, trying to catch her hand, but her fingers slipped through his, and the darkness started to swallow her whole. He knew if it did, he'd never see her again.

"Stop!" His voice was thick. Choked. "I _love_ you! Stay with me!"

He heard her stop, and for a moment, he felt lighter. She would stay. But there was no response. No answer. He peered into the darkness.

Red eyes looked back at him. _Snkkt!_

 _VRRROOOMM!_

"AHHHHGH!" Julian sat up, his eyes wide, his breath coming in short bursts, his heart pounding like it was trying to break out of his chest, just in time to watch the edges of a green wave hit the walls of his room. The paint began to bubble and hiss in its wake, and the material warped slightly.

He stared at the damage, confused, still trying to sort out what had been a dream, and what was reality. After a few moments, he looked around his room, starting to recognize his surroundings. He was back at Warren's. Everything was as usual: the desk in the corner, the big window with the blinds drawn to his left, the closet to his right. His uniform wasn't draped over the back of the chair, though, where he usually put it when he slept or wasn't out on a mission. What had he done with it? His forehead wrinkled.

After a moment, he glanced down. Oh. He was wearing it. But it wasn't his new one, with the grey side panels. It was his old one, from the school, with dark red. Then it dawned on him. It wasn't. The red was _blood._ He could see little grey patches in between splatters.

There were big rips, all over. He could see his skin through these spots, unbroken, but surrounded by more dried blood and viscera.

He swallowed. What the hell had happened? He couldn't remember. It was all kind of blurry. He remembered going out with James and Josh, earlier last night. Then he'd come back and fallen asleep. But that couldn't be right. Something had obviously happened. He became aware of something shiny, on his bed. Metal. The sun was glinting off of it, through the spaces in the blinds. Or, off of _them._ His hands were…metal?

Then he remembered lying in the snow. Waking up with these _things_ attached to him. Seeing his real hands, a couple of feet away, cold and stiff. Lifeless.

The door opened, and Logan peered in. "You're up."

Julian scrambled up against the wall and threw up a shield. Except it didn't come out right. The energy flowed over him, hugging his form tightly, like a second skin. His forehead wrinkled. "…what the fuck?"

Logan raised his eyebrows. "Actually, I was gonna ask the same thing. What was that noise earlier?"

"…" Julian stared at him. "What's happening to me?!"

"Dunno." Logan paused. "Josh says it's some kind of T/O."

"Was it Cable?!" Julian glared at him. "Did he _infect_ me?!"

"Cable ain't seen you since you charged out on your own, Lone Ranger." Logan paused. "Which I gotta tell you, kid…that was a fucking dumb idea. You could've died last night."

Julian paused. Taking off on his own sounded like something he would do, if the stakes were high enough. He shook his head. "Yeah…well…I didn't."

"If you're part of this team, you gotta do what I say. At all times." Logan gave him a stern look. "I can't have a loose cannon going off during this kind of shit."

"You say that like Warren isn't out there somewhere." Julian glared at Logan. "Loose cannon? He's like a loose _H-bomb."_

"I worry about the things I can control, Keller." Logan folded his arms. "Warren is Cyke's problem now. He's on it."

"I see." Julian paused. "Why…why did I take off on my own again?"

Logan raised his eyebrows. "Because you're fucking stupid?"

"I may do stupid things sometimes, but I'm not an idiot." Julian folded his arms too. "There had to be a _reason._ "

Logan paused. "Cable came, an' Hope ran off into the woods. You thought you could find her yourself. And something out there got you…we didn't see it. Bear, maybe. Got there just in time to patch the rest of you up. Right, Elixir?"

Josh had just joined him at the door. He raised his eyebrows. "Uh—"

Logan elbowed him hard.

"Right." Josh cleared his throat. "How are you feeling?"

Julian watched them with narrowed eyes. He knew they were lying. But why? Were they afraid he would leave again? Why would he leave again? Was there something he was supposed to do? He had to figure out what had actually happened. "Great."

"Good." Logan unfolded his arms. "Now…about that H-bomb you mentioned. We got to go find it."

Julian raised his eyebrows. "Thought you said Summers was on it."

"Yeah, he is." Logan paused. "He ordered us to pursue. So, technically, _we're_ on it."

"…" Josh looked alarmed. "Hey, I just came to help heal. I can go back to the school, right?"

"After you help us with Warren." Logan shrugged. "Then, I honestly don't give a fuck what happens to you, Elixir. You haven't been all that useful anyway, what with half the team immune to your heals. Kind of a liability." He patted Josh's shoulder, seeing his eyes widen. "Come on, kid. I'm mostly joking. We'll take you back to school. Might be a mind wipe involved, but that never hurt no one. Then you can go back to playing with your cell phone or whatever it is you do when you're not needed."

"I hate this. All of this." Josh's voice was flat. "Especially _you._ " He walked away, kicking the ground as he went.

Logan grinned. "We're leaving in fifteen." He turned away, then looked over his shoulder. "Do something about your gear, Keller…the camo only works if you're actually wearing it. You're showing more skin than a stripper."

Julian rolled his eyes.

* * *

He took a shower, watching as the water turned red beneath him. Something had definitely hacked him up…but it wasn't a _bear_ like Logan had suggested. And if Josh had healed him, why had he woken up in his bed, covered in blood? He'd have felt fine. Good enough to change into clean clothes, at least.

He remembered the dream about the girl. For a while, it had felt so _real,_ like he was actually holding her. Who was she? Was she a figment of his imagination, or was she real? He paused. Was she related to _this_ , somehow? What were the red eyes about? Was it the thing that had attacked him?

And his metal hands. Where had they come from? They weren't his real ones. Those had been left behind in the snow. But these ones didn't feel different. The T/O thing. Techno Organic. How was that mixed in? He felt frustrated, and his hands formed fists. Why couldn't he just goddamn _remember?!_

The water around him glowed, and the droplets rose into the air. And began to boil.

"Fuck!" He slammed into the back wall of the shower, his eyes wide as he stared at the rapidly moving droplets, glowing and floating among the ones still coming from the showerhead. He forced his hands to relax, and they fell to the ground and snaked down the drain with a hiss of steam.

 _Knock knock knock!_ "Keller, no one gives a fuck if you look pretty or not! Hurry the hell up!" Logan sounded impatient.

He sighed, but turned off the water. Once he'd pulled his uniform on again, he realized he still needed to fix it, somehow. He rooted around in a desk drawer and found some electrical tape, then patched the rips closed haphazardly, and headed downstairs.

* * *

Julian glanced at Cable, who was sitting across the row from him, with Hope. They were in the jet, and Logan and James were up front. Elixir was sitting behind him, drumming his fingers on his window as he gazed out, probably thinking about having his mind wiped. Julian couldn't tell if he was afraid of it, or looking forward to it. Maybe he should warn him how frustrating it was, to not be able to remember.

"So…" Julian looked at Cable. "Why're you here? And why're we going after Warren, if _you_ needed our help?"

Cable didn't bother looking at him. "Someone's after us. Don't know where he is right now, though, so we're sticking with you till he shows up." He glanced at Hope, who was napping. "Going to stay in the jet and rest up. We had a long night."

"Oh." Julian paused. "The T/O virus…you have to fight it off all the time with your powers, right?"

Cable grunted. "Something like that."

Julian cleared his throat. "Uh, did you, uh, happen to infect me?"

Now Cable stared at him, his left eye glowing a brighter shade of yellow. "The hell're you on about?"

"I dunno." Julian held up his hand, flexed the fingers. "You showed up last night, and now I'm part metal. In my opinion, it's not too crazy for me to be asking questions."

"It wasn't Cable. I was with him the whole time." Josh leaned over Julian's shoulder. "Dude…who _else_ do you know that has T/O?"

"Damnit, Elixir!" Logan yelled from the front.

Hope stirred. "What's going on, Nathan?"

Cable grunted. "Don't worry about it."

Julian paused. "Warren?" His forehead wrinkled. "Wouldn't I be dead, then?"

"There was a _lot_ of blood." Josh paused. "Maybe he tried killing you, but infected you instead? He's, like, Apocolypse's horseman of Death, you know."

"Elixir…shut _up!_ " Logan roared. "Right now!"

"Angel doesn't have the virus." Cable paused. "I can read anything tech. His T/O is different. Celestial origin, I think."

Julian traded confused glances with Josh. "Celestial origin?"

"It's a long story. They're space gods, or something." Cable glanced at Hope. "Remember how I told you about my friend, the Professor? He was a Celestial A.I."

"Yeah!" Hope grinned. "I wish I could meet him."

Julian swallowed. "Does that mean I'm going to lose my marbles, like Warren did?"

Silence. Everyone was staring at him now.

In the front, Logan cleared his throat. "Keller, you even _think_ about doin' that, I'll kick your ass so hard you turn inside out. I got enough problems already without you bein' an inconsiderate punk and _addin'_ to them."

James shrugged. He was in the copilot's seat. "Doubt he'd be doing it on purpose, Logan." He sounded like he was trying to be helpful.

"Well, he better work mighty hard to keep his marbles together, then, hadn't he?" Logan sounded like he was going to start growling.

Julian closed his eyes. He had never thought he'd see the day when he compared Logan to Santo, even for a brief moment, but that day had arrived. Yeah, he had definitely died and this was some crazy version of the afterlife. That was the only thing that made sense.

"We got visuals!" James announced, a few minutes later. "Warren's dead ahead."

"I see him." Logan leaned forward slightly. "He flies pretty fast. Jet's faster, though."

James looked over at him. "What are we doing here? Missiles?"

"Not yet." Logan paused. "He's on some kind of personal mission. Gotta find out what that's about first. We follow."

"I could go out and talk to him." Julian began to undo his safety belt.

"Stay put, Keller!" Logan gritted his teeth. "Last thing we need is you two flippin' out at the same damn time."

"Don't worry about _that_. I've been warned to work 'mighty hard' on keeping my marbles together." Julian's voice dripped with sarcasm. "I'm terrified you'll kick my ass so hard I turn inside out, you see."

"Shut the FUCK up and get back in that seat, NOW!" Logan turned around and glared at him. " _Don't_ make me come back there!"

"…" Josh buried his face in his hands. "And just like that, I'm reliving the road trip my family took to the Grand Canyon when I was six."

"Appreciate if you could watch the language, Logan." Cable's voice was sharp. He was covering the sides of Hope's head with his hands. "Little pitchers have big ears."

"Sorry." Logan didn't look or sound sorry.

"Heh." James shrugged. "I dunno, Logan. Might be a good idea…make him feel less threatened, if it's only Julian and not a big jet riding his tail."

"Exactly." Julian stood. "I can take care of myself. And it's not like I'm going to attack him…I'll just ask him what he's up to."

"You can take care of yourself. _Really._ " Logan glared at him. "We had to scrape you out of your personal _battlefield_ yesterday."

Julian rolled his eyes. "That was yesterday. I'm fine. Let me do this."

"…" Logan straightened in his seat again. "Your funeral. Alright, open the door, James."

* * *

Julian ran off the ramp and into the air, then began to plummet toward the ground about twenty thousand feet below, his heart practically freezing in his chest. He flailed his arms, reminiscent of a chicken flapping, then forced himself to calm down and focus. There! He raised himself up and launched himself after Warren, who was disappearing into the distance, gliding easily on his metal wings. Like a hawk. He gritted his teeth. Damn it, he was never going to catch up like this. He tried to focus on going faster, closing his eyes and concentrating, trying to access the store of power he knew was there. _I_ need _to catch up, I_ need _to catch up—_

POP!

"RAAAWWGH!"

Julian arched backwards, just in time to avoid Warren swiping at him with his wingtip. His forehead wrinkled. What had just happened? No time to think about it. Warren was doubling back and charging toward him again, his face contorted with hatred. He was going to kill him in a single swipe if he didn't act now. His shield rippled over his skin with barely a thought, as the other wingtip swept toward his torso. It skated across, not even leaving a mark.

"No! STOP!" Julian held up his hands. "I'm here to find out what you're doing so we can _help_ you! I don't want to fight!"

"Took my WINGS!" Warren gritted his teeth.

"I didn't take your wings!" Julian paused. "None of us did. It was Rahne...but there's something wrong with her. She wasn't herself either."

Warren glared at him. "Get out of my way!" Then he soared overhead.

Julian sped after him. "So…what are you doing out here?"

"They took my wings…taking them back." Warren grunted this. "They'll pay. They'll _all_ pay. I'll kill them all."

"Oh." Julian paused. "Are you going there now?"

"Yes." Pause. "Get back on your ship, boy. I'm not saving you again."

"So you _did_ do this to me." Julian nodded to his hands. "Did you…attack me?"

"Please." Warren gave him a condescending look. "If I had wanted you dead, you _would_ be dead."

"Why aren't I dead, then?" Julian pressed.

Warren paused. "You helped me leave the place where my wings were stolen. I was repaying the favor."

"Who attacked me then?"

"The girl."

Julian's forehead wrinkled, as he remembered his dream. "Girl?"

Warren glared at him. "No more questions! You are making me regret helping you." He sped up, and was soon a speck in the distance.

Julian looked back at the jet, which was also a speck in the distance. He considered following Warren, but he knew the others would want to hear back from him. So he began to fly back the way he'd come, trying to do whatever he'd done earlier to make himself travel so fast. But it didn't work this time.

He sighed. _I'll figure it out._

* * *

Julian ran after Logan and James, who were following Warren into the ruined laboratory through a busted skylight. Just below stood several people, in the center of a circle of…Warren clones? They all had his blue skin, and sharp, folded metal wings.

One of these central people was a stranger, a man with white hair and a goatee, and glowing pink eyes. He was smiling calmly.

"Bastion." Logan snarled this under his breath.

The second was Matthew Risman. Julian would recognize him anywhere. The good side of his face was drooping heavily. He hadn't killed him after all. Just like Logan had said. Risman was holding his gun at the stranger's head, his hand shaking. Tremors. Probably from the stroke Julian had given him.

"Father!" An Angel clone was pointing up at Warren. "Is he one of us?!"

"GIVE THEM BACK!" Warren screamed, swiping his metal wingtip into an area Julian couldn't see from his viewpoint on the roof. But blood streaked through the air below, and there were three small thump sounds, followed by three larger THUDs.

"No. Satan is playing a trick on us." Risman glanced at Warren. "He is a mutant, and he needs to be destroyed. _Now,_ Gabriel."

Gabriel nodded and charged at Warren, his own metal wings spreading. The fight was starting.

"The X-men are coming for you." Bastion said this calmly. His voice was soft.

Risman gritted his teeth. His gun shook harder, as he moved his finger to the trigger. "I'm ready to die…but you first."

"What's the plan here?" James asked.

"I count forty-eight pieces of shit." Logan grinned. "Sixteen apiece. Kill 'em all."

"You heard the boss." James glanced at Julian and grinned, too. "Now would be a great time to lose your marbles, if you're ever gonna." He jumped down onto Risman's shoulders and slit his throat.

"HURRK—" Risman dropped the gun.

Logan had jumped too, bringing his claws down through Bastion's head. There was no blood, only pink sparks.

"…" Bastion paused. Then the damage began to seal together.

"Get the fuck in here, Hellion!" Logan roared, charging at his opponent again.

Julian did as told, just in time for a metal wingtip to catch him in the side. "AHHGH!" He raised his shield before anyone else could get him, then set to helping Warren chase down the flying purifiers whizzing around the room. He caught one by his wing and slammed him into the wall, thinking about creating a small space in his brainstem, the area Logan had instructed him to focus his kills on, instead of the cerebrum. He was used to this being difficult, locating such a tiny area in a moving target, but now, he found it was almost bizarrely easy. The purifier slipped out of his grasp and crashed to the floor, stone dead. He launched himself after another one, but Warren beat him to it, his wing slicing the man in half.

He shielded himself from the splatter, then saw the clone that was divebombing him. He swung up with his fist and watched as it punched right through the man's chest, blood exploding everywhere. He started and shoved the man off his arm, alarmed by what he'd just done. But no one else seemed to notice. They were all too busy with their own situations. And soon he was busy with another one of his own, as a wingtip raked across his face. "AGGH!" he yelled, but his shield held, the metal not even touching his actual skin. He made a fist, and the man fell to his knees, smoke drifting from his ears.

Julian wasn't sure what he had just done, but again, he wasn't about to dwell on it. He charged into the fray again. As he fought, dispatching clone after clone with only momentary focus, he caught glimpses of James swiping his knife through one of the clone's throats. Logan was still fighting Bastion, and trying to defend himself from the flying clones at the same time. He charged at one that was about to swing his wing through his neck, slamming him into the opposing wall.

"Mutant _scum!"_ The man hissed.

"I don't even know what to fucking call _you._ " Julian made a fist again, and the man slid down the wall, his head lolling on his neck. Again, smoke was pouring out of his ears. What was he _doing_ that caused that?

"You mutants have brought this upon yourselves." Bastion was speaking. "Any one of you contain the potential to destroy humanity. I cannot allow it." His eyes were glowing. And then he was blasting Logan, with a steady, bright pink stream of energy.

Julian had seen that kind of energy before. Nimrod. His eyebrows drew together. He felt like there was something else to the memory, but he couldn't remember now.

"Gnnnt—" Logan hit the wall beside the man, his torso shimmering with weird pink light. Burning. His face was contorted in pain. He slid down.

"I did want you to kill Risman." The stranger paused. "But this confrontation is premature."

There was a big sound. Julian looked up, watching as a big jet lowered itself over the skylight. A ramp slid down. Bastion smiled calmly.

There were many, many people standing behind him. Julian recognized a few. The Leper Queen. Cameron Hodge. Grayson Creed. _William Stryker_.

"No…no fucking way!" Logan sounded as shocked as Julian felt.

Bastion held out his hands and blasted energy at Logan again, this time maintaining the attack. Julian could smell burning this time.

"Grrr!" Logan gritted his teeth and shielded his face, then began to inch toward Bastion. "You're DEAD! You understand me?!" Snikt!

Bastion rose into the air and lifted himself back onto the ramp.

"Is there a problem?" Hodge asked.

"Of course." Bastion paused. "Evacuate the base. Stryker, prepare for ascent."

Julian stared at Stryker. Here was the man who had murdered his friends. How was he still _here,_ breathing? He didn't hesitate. He reached out, searching for his brainstem, and concentrated as hard as he could on it.

"Hnnnt—" Stryker froze for a moment, then shook his head and walked back into the ship, as if nothing had happened.

Julian watched him go. This felt like a bad dream.

"HELLION! Get me up there!" Logan snapped, starting to run as the jet raised into the air. He leaped into the air, and Julian reached out to give him a boost. Just as the ship's afterburners exploded. And then it was gone, a dot in the sky.

Logan landed on the ground, coughing, his flesh smoking. "DAMMIT KELLER!"

Julian closed his eyes. "I didn't know that was going to happen."

"Grr." Logan scraped himself to his feet. "The fuck is Warren?"

"Back here." James hesitated. "Uh. You're not going to believe it, though."

"After what I've seen today…don't be so sure."

They found Warren lying among the carnage, his skin pale once again, his feathery wings folded around him like a cocoon. His eyes were closed, and there was the slightest of smiles on his face.

"Wait, _what?_ " Julian's forehead wrinkled. "He's back to normal, just like that?"

"Guess he got what he wanted." James shrugged. "Revenge."

"Stop speculatin' and help me get him outta here." Logan sounded like he was ready to be done with the day.

Come to think of it, Julian was, too. He knew now that had come before this was just the tip of the iceberg. That made him feel really, really tired. And defeated.

"Rahne!" James was in a back room. "Guys! I found— _holy shit!_ "

Julian closed his eyes, not sure if he wanted to know. But he followed the others, and found the girl kneeling in the middle of a carnage circle similar to Warren's, tears running down her face. "There is no sin so terrible that God's love cannot forgive…there is no sin so terrible that God's love cannot forgive…" she had blood on her face. In her mouth. In the background, Julian could make out what he thought were intestines.

Logan sniffed the air. "Well, fuck."

"Is it…what I think it was?" Julian's voice was flat.

"Worse." Logan hesitated. "That was her father."

"…" Julian coughed. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Logan nodded to James. "Get her outta here before she realized what happened. Me and Keller can handle Warren."

James knelt beside Rahne and carefully guided her to her feet by her elbow. She was still sobbing.

"I'm sorry I asked." Julian turned and headed back to the main room, where Warren was still sleeping peacefully. "Aw, fuck."

"What?" Logan had followed him.

"He's _naked._ " Julian closed his eyes. "Do you think I'd die if I try to bleach my own mind?"

"Probably." Logan paused. "Try it on mine first."

Despite how shitty things were, Julian gave him a tired grin.


	18. Chapter 18 - Her Name is Laura

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews! I think I replied to everyone by pm except for pipn123...the answer to your question is in this chapter! I am updating a little less frequently now because I decided to rewrite a big chunk of what I already had written, so it takes time to write the chapters & edit them. Hope everyone continues to enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 18

 _Her Name is Laura_

* * *

"I _know_ you were lying about the bear." Julian folded his arms. "It wasn't a bear. Tell me what actually attacked me. Was it Warren?" He paused. "Or was it someone _else?_ "

Logan shook his head. "Kid…I told you that because the last thing I need is you charging out on your own again, and maybe dyin' for real this time." Pause. "You want the truth? I dunno. I smelled Warren all over the scene. You can ask him." Pause. "Good luck."

Julian gritted his teeth. Warren was now blissfully ignorant of all the events that had transpired since Rahne had attacked him, as if his mind were a blank slate. He forced himself to relax. "Just before we found Bastion...I _did_ ask him. And…he said something about a girl that attacked me." He paused. "Do you know who he might have meant?"

Logan raised his eyebrows. "You really don't remember, do you?"

"No." Julian's eyebrows drew together. "But I feel like it was really, really important." Julian paused. " _She_ was really important. To me. She still is, but now I can't remember the details, and it's driving me crazy." His voice was small. "I can't even remember her name now."

Logan sighed, rubbed his face with his palm, then looked out at the mountains again as he tapped his cigar on the edge of the fence railing. "Her name is Laura." Logan frowned. "She's my clone. But…I didn't smell her, when we found you out there. I dunno if I'd really trust anythin' Warren said back when he was spazzin' out."

Julian considered this name. Laura. _Laura._ It was familiar. Very familiar. But he couldn't put a face to the name. "Your clone?"

"More like my sister." Logan paused, grinned. "Don't worry. We don't look all that similar."

"Oh." Julian frowned. "Why isn't she here? With us?" _With me?_

Logan paused. "It's a long story…an' to be honest, kid… _you_ saw the arsenal Bastion had with him. We can't afford to go off on personal quests just now." He took a long drag off his cigar. "So, just believe me when I tell you…we'll find her, once things calm down."

"I…" Julian hesitated. His instincts were telling him the exact opposite thing. His stomach knotted up at the thought of pushing this aside. "Where _is_ she? Is she okay?"

Logan paused for a moment, then nodded. "She's safe where she is. She can wait." His voice was firm. "I'd think the last thing you'd want to do is bring her back here. Least till we take care of the crisis at hand. She doesn't need to get tangled up in this."

Julian was silent.

The porch door opened, and James poked his head out. "Nathan wants to talk with you, Logan."

Logan nodded, stubbed out his cigar, patted Julian on the shoulder, then went back inside.

He ran his fingers through his hair. He knew Logan was keeping something from him, but he doubted he would say more. He'd just have to figure out who else he could ask. Who else knew about this Laura?

He had discovered his memory holes were more pervasive than just the night he'd been injured. It went back almost two years. He remembered being at school, and the attacks by Stryker, and Sofia leaving. And Nimrod. He knew Cessily had been kidnapped by a lab, and that they had gotten her back. But that memory was all foggy. Something else had happened. Something that left him going out every night, questioning people. Something that made him really angry and sad.

He guessed that was when Laura had left, for whatever reason. Then he'd killed Deathstryke, and Summers had recruited him for this team. He remembered everything he and Logan and James been doing. But he was consciously aware that there was some key element he couldn't remember. Something about Laura leaving must have really twisted him up inside. Otherwise, why would he be out here, on a wetwork team? It went against everything he used to believe in. But what could have happened? Had they been together, and she left him? Or had she been kidnapped? The latter. If she had _chosen_ to leave, he would have let her go, even if it hurt. He wouldn't be out here, doing whatever the hell he was doing. Right?

Had he been looking for her, because bad people had her? Had he perhaps found her, the night he'd been injured? Had _she_ attacked him? Were those _her_ red eyes he had dreamed about? But why? Did she want to stay with the people who had her? Was she actually safe, like Logan had said? Somehow, Julian didn't think so.

He stood out on the porch, trying to piece it all together, until James opened the door again.

"Hey, Julian. We're heading to the school now…taking a bunch of people back, and getting our next marching orders. Better get your stuff."

"Sure." Julian's forehead wrinkled. He didn't want to leave this area, in case there were more clues as to what had happened that night. But he didn't want to get left out here on his own, either. Maybe someone at the school could help him. _Not Frost._ He raised his eyebrows, wondering why he'd thought that, but the answer wasn't coming. He sighed, then went inside.

It didn't take him long to stuff his possessions in a backpack. A couple outfits in the closet, jeans and t-shirts which he hadn't really had much occasion to wear. Boxers. His handful of toiletries. He zipped up the bag, his eyebrows drawing together. There was something he was forgetting, but he wasn't sure what it was.

After a few moments, he swung the backpack onto his shoulder and made for the door, but then he stopped and turned around. Something was nagging at him. What? He headed back toward the bed, ran his hand over the quilt, his forehead wrinkling. Then he crouched down and looked under the bed. There was another backpack underneath.

He dragged it out and unzipped it, spilling its contents onto the bed. It contained several pieces of clothing. Not his. He picked up a black tank top. With stiff plastic strips inside. And laces. A corset. _Definitely_ not his. But maybe they were Laura's clothes. He hesitated, then pressed it to his face and inhaled. The scent was faintly familiar. But no memories came to mind. No images. Frustrated, he tossed the garment back on the bed, then noticed he hadn't emptied the bag completely. There was still something heavy and rectangular inside. A book _._ His breath caught as he registered the fact that it was stained with dark red. Blood. Under that, he could just barely make out the title: _Grimm's Fairytales._

"KELLER! The hell is taking you so long?!" Logan yelled from downstairs.

Julian gritted his teeth, then shoved everything back in the bag and swung that over his shoulder too, then headed to the door. But his mood had lightened a little.

The book had to be a clue of some sort.

* * *

Julian gazed out the window, watching the passing clouds. He didn't want to let on to Logan, or anyone who might tell Logan, that he hadn't dropped his search for answers, so he had decided to wait until later that night to open the book. But he could do whatever he wanted in his head. Currently, he was trying to make himself remember what Laura looked like. And sounded like.

That dream he'd had involved only sensations and glimpses. He knew her skin was pale, and her hair was dark and long. Did she have red eyes? No, that didn't seem right. He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the glass, irritated with himself.

He was in a dark space. Blackness. There was someone directly ahead of him, sitting cross-legged on the nonexistent floor, glowing slightly as if lit from within. A girl, with long, dark hair, spilling over her shoulders. Which were moving. Her arms were making sawing motions. Wet noises. Every so often, a screeching sound of metal-on-metal, and a small, soft huff of air.

He felt like he should know who it was. What was happening. But it was just beyond his grasp. "Grrr!" He tugged at his own hair. He was sick of this feeling.

The movements paused for a moment. The girl's head tilted to the side.

He hesitated, then decided to speak again. "Laura?"

"Go away." Her voice was soft, small. Sad.

He took a few steps toward her. "Why can't I remember you?"

"Because I killed you." Her head lowered. "Just like everyone else." Pause. "I must be destroyed."

He knelt just behind her, and reached out to touch her shoulder. "I'm not—"

"AGGH!" Julian started awake. He was still in the jet, and now everyone was staring at him. He flushed and sank down in his seat, embarrassed.

"Night terrors?" Hope asked from across the row, her eyes wide.

"Something like that." Julian looked out the window again. He was covered in cold sweat. What the hell had that been? It had felt so _real._ But it was a dream. Right? His head ached, like he had just mentally lifted the jet.

But under all his frustration and confusion, he also felt a sense of relief. At first, he wasn't sure why. Then he realized, he had _heard_ her. She spoke, in a soft, monotonous way, her sentences short and simple. He remembered, or had a sense of remembering, how strange he'd once found this. But he must have come to like it. He didn't find it strange _now._

He bit his lip, wishing he could just remember everything. He knew it was all there, in his head, waiting to be put together.

* * *

"I've had the Cuckoos on alert for two days now." Summers was speaking to Logan and Julian, a manila file folder in his hands. They were standing in his office, along with the said Stepford Cuckoos.

"Yes." Celeste paused. "The next theft is going to be from the CDC, tonight."

"It makes sense. Someone is looking for the _original_ Legacy strain." Mindee.

"The CDC has had it under lock and key, since it is easy to mutate…but mutated strands are difficult to further modify." Phoebe. "That's why the first sample stolen won't work."

"Someone must be planning to create a new strain." Mindee paused. "We can't allow them to get their hands on the base template."

"Bastion." Logan growled the name. "It ain't no coincidence that he brought back all those old bads, an' now Legacy is rearin' it's ugly head too."

"Possibly." Summers frowned. "Probably. We won't know for sure unless you catch this guy. His name is Telford Porter…but he calls himself the Vanisher."

"Gee, wonder what his powers are." Now Logan's voice dripped with sarcasm.

Summers smirked. "Yeah, he's not one for subtlety."

Julian closed his eyes. He wished the meeting would be over soon, so he could lock himself in his room and examine that book he'd found. _Don't think about it now. Focus._

"Got coordinates?" Logan was asking.

"Yes." Summers handed him the folder. "But this job isn't exactly going to be the typical slash-and-dash. You'll be in the CDC, a government building, full of civilians…civilians who do a _very_ important job. We can't afford to have an incident." He paused, looked at Julian. "And we can't spare the Cuckoos here. They're already taking shifts on Cerebra with Emma as is. So…how would you feel about using your telepathy?"

"…" Julian paused. "Excuse me?"

"You're on the psychic network." Phoebe.

"We've been aware of you for about two years now." Celeste arched her eyebrows. "But recently, you've grown much stronger."

"Strong enough to _use_ it." Mindee. "We will show you how."

The Cuckoos nodded in unison.

"Uh." Julian's forehead wrinkled. "Something is…going on with my powers already." He paused, raised his metal hands. "I don't think…I don't think I can really take much more right now." He paused. "Besides, doesn't telepathy take _years_ to master? Frost and Xavier—"

"Oh, not at all." Celeste smiled.

"We'll just upload the information directly to your brain." Phoebe.

"The way we helped Elixir." Phoebe nodded at Josh. "Ask _him_."

Julian's forehead wrinkled. "…Josh?"

Josh shrugged. "They, uh, uploaded a bunch of anatomy info for me. Just before we fought Deathstryke. Really helped me visualize what I was healing." He paused. "It didn't hurt."

Julian looked at Logan now. "What do you think?"

Logan shrugged. "I know next to nothin' about head stuff. If it were me I'd probably say no…then again, if it works, it sounds like you could help with this situation a whole damn bunch." He paused. "Your call." His tone was the same as he'd used when he said _your funeral._

Julian bit his lip. He thought of Stryker on the jet, gazing down at them. The way he had barely faltered when he tried to shut him down for good. His metal hands formed fists. "Okay. Do it."

The Cuckoos exchanged glances. Then all they stepped forward and touched his forehead.

* * *

"You okay, kid?" Logan's voice.

Julian blinked and opened his eyes. Everyone was crowded around, looking down at him in concern.

"I think so." His head swam. "What…"

 _There was some…resistance_. Mindee's pause made it seem like she was making an understatement.

Julian started slightly. Ms. Frost had spoken in his mind before, but it hadn't been like this. Before, it had felt like receiving a text message in his head. Now, it felt like Mindee had just whispered in his ear.

 _Almost as if you had developed mental blocks already._ Phoebe.

 _We were able to overcome it, but you lost consciousness._ Celeste.

 _There was also recent mental trauma_. Phoebe frowned. _We tried, but we could not fix it. Your mind resisted our attempts._

 _The gaps in your memory are deeply rooted in your subconsciousness._ Mindee.

 _You will need to heal this on your own._ Celeste. She sounded apologetic.

"We've uploaded our knowledge of telepathy, and Dr. McCoy's mental libraries of biochemistry and Physics. Along with a little of Rachel Grey's experience with molecular telekinesis." Celeste said this out loud. He could only tell because of the difference in volume. "That should help with fluctuations you have experienced lately."

Julian's eyebrows drew together. "Uh…thanks. I think."

"Of course." All three girls said this together, smiling. He sensed they were whispering mentally among themselves, but he couldn't tell what they were saying. It was muffled, as if by a thick wall.

Summers cleared his throat. "Looks like you're all set, then. The break in is going to happen at twenty-two hundred …so you'll deploy at around twenty-one hundred. Report back when you're done...I have some other leads I need you to investigate."

"Roger." Logan headed toward the door. "Get your ass off the floor, Keller." He threw this over his shoulder.

* * *

Julian was heading toward his room. He passed James on the stairs, then noticed his friend had a duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

His eyebrows drew together. He had a brief moment of familiarity. Of someone else who had left in a similar manner. A bus station. The image was gone as quickly as it had come. He shook his head slightly. "Wha—where you going?" It occurred to him, after asking the question, that he could probably just look in his head and see for himself. But the thought made him feel sick.

James paused, turned around. "Just…to talk to someone." He was sad. He couldn't do this anymore.

"Who?"

"You don't know them." He frowned. "I just—this is hard. Harder than I thought it was going to be….and I can't talk to anyone here. Friends…X-men…" He hesitated. "Even my girlfriend." There was a momentary mental picture, of a girl with gray fur and a long tail.

Julian paused. "Yeah. I get that. Well…good luck?"

"Thanks." James frowned. "You too."

They both turned and started heading their separate ways, then James paused. _He has a right to know._ "Hey, wait a minute. I gotta tell you…"

Julian looked back at him.

"Whatever _they_ tell you about that girl you're looking for…don't listen. You were worried about her." James paused. "You told me that bad people have her, and it was your fault. And that you joined this whole train wreck so you'd be ready when you did find her again."

Julian's eyes widened. "Did…did I say anything else?"

"Nope." James frowned. "Just that. When you do find her…let me know. I'm always up to help a friend in need." He continued down the staircase.

"Thanks." Julian watched him go, his forehead wrinkling.

* * *

Now Julian was sitting on his bed, unzipping the backpack he'd found under the bed. He was just pulling out the bloodstained book when there was a knock on his door.

He stiffened. He could sense that his visitors were Cessily and Santo, both of which he hadn't seen in a very long time.

 _I can't talk to anyone now._ He suddenly understood the full meaning of what James had said. What the hell would he say to them?

Knocking, again. Louder. "We _know_ you're in there!" Cessily yelled through the door. "Don't make me drag you out—I totally can! And _will!_ "

Julian re-zipped the bag and slid it under his bed, then stood up and opened the door with his mind. "Hey—"

Cessily was already charging toward him. She hit him with a _thwack_ and wrapped her metal arms several times around his torso, like a boa constrictor. And now Santo was also trying to hug him, squeezing his sides with the giant boulders that made up his arms. He felt his vision dimming.

"CAN'T—BREATHE!" Julian wheezed.

"Sorry!" Cessily loosened her grip. "We just really missed you!" _He looks really tired. I wonder—_

"Yeah!" Santo boomed. A big picture of a pizza momentarily clouded Julian's vision. He blinked and shook his head slightly.

"Guys, I'm fine." Julian hesitated for a moment. "I, uh, missed you too."

Santo grinned. "You're like the bread in our PB and J sandwich." _I gotta make one soon! It's been a while. But..._ the pizza image flashed again.

"Excuse me." Cessily gave him a flat look. "If anyone's the bread, it's _you_." _I shouldn't have agreed to come with him._

Julian's forehead wrinkled, and he reached up to rub the back of his neck, not sure if he should tell them he was hearing the thoughts they were projecting. That might possibly make it worse.

Cessily grabbed his metal hand. "HOLY SHIT! WHAT—" she lowered her voice slightly, as both Santo and Julian winced.

"Err—" he yanked it away and hid it behind his back.

Cessily's eyes narrowed. "Where have you been? What have you been _doing?"_ She paused. "The last time we saw you was after that crazy thing with Lady Deathstryke. You just…disappeared. And you come back with some crazy looking gloves? Or are—are those your actual hands?! _Talk,_ Julian."

Julian pictured himself telling his best friends that he had lost count of how many people he'd killed since he last saw them. That Deathstryke was now just a drop in the bucket. No, he couldn't. They would never understand. His eyebrows drew together. "I don't want to talk about it."

Cessily paused. "I see." She looked surprised. Hurt. She _was,_ he could sense how hurt she was. Her feelings were loud and…colorful.

Julian frowned. "Sorry, Cess."

"It's fine." She hesitated. "Are you…still looking for Laura?"

He inhaled sharply. Of course. Cessily would know _everything._ She would practically be as good a resource as his own memory. Santo would probably know something too. He glanced at the clock in the hallway. Six. "I've got a couple of hours free. You guys want to go for dinner?"

Cessily brightened. "Yeah, of course!"

Santo grinned. "Dude, food _and_ hanging with you? Don't need to twist my arm."

* * *

"Man, I am _so_ glad you're back!" Cessily was beaming at Julian from across the table, a steaming plate of baked spaghetti in front of her that she wouldn't eat. "I was sooooo worried about you. And—"

"I tol' her to quit worryin'." Santo's mouth was still full, and his lasagna was still steaming from the oven, but that didn't seem to slow him down. He was already halfway through his plate. "You always 'een able to 'ake care o' yourself."

Cessily glared at Santo. _Ugh. Santo, are you_ blind? _Julian looks terrible! He's obviously not okay, all distracted and quiet and—are those_ bags _under his eyes? Crap, I think he's lost ten or twenty pounds…_

"Yeah." Julian looked down, at his metal hand on the table. He wasn't sure he agreed with what Santo had said, either. His eyebrows drew together. What _could_ he tell them?

As if reading _his_ mind, Cessily leaned forward, giving him a concerned look. "You're really not gonna catch us up on those?" She nodded to his hands.

He closed his eyes. Maybe he could just tell them a half-truth. "I don't…I don't really know. I got hurt and now I can't remember a whole bunch of stuff."

"Oh my god!" Cessily gaped at him. "Like what?! Do you remember _us?!"_

"Obviously, dude. Jeez." Santo shook his head. "We're unforgettable."

Julian grinned, slightly. "Yeah. I remember you just fine. I mean…like what I was doing while I was gone. And…uh…" he hesitated. "I don't remember Laura."

Santo's fork clattered back onto his plate. Both were staring at him.

" _What?_ " Cessily's forehead wrinkled. "Are you serious?"

"No way." Santo looked confused. "Hell, I got issues with memory and even _I_ remember her."

Julian looked at his friend now. "Huh?"

"It turns out, he actually does get stupider when he loses original 'foundation' rocks." Cessily gave Julian a flat look. "Apparently, he's already lost parts of his brain that have to do with language processing. Dr. McCoy diagnosed him with a special kind of verbal dyslexia. Special, as in only Santo has it."

Santo raised his craggy eyebrows. "It's called…damnit. I forgot."

"Santolexia."

"Oh. Right." He paused. "Cause my name's Santo."

Cessily leaned her cheek on her hand. "Yep."

"That sucks." Julian frowned. "Guess you couldn't handle putting yourself back together without my help, huh?"

"Thought I had it down." Santo shrugged. "Oh well. Never been one for big fancy words anyway. But—dude—we were talkin' about _you."_ He paused. "So, is it like that Sandler movie, where he dates the chick that resets every day? 50 shades of somethin'?"

Cessily closed her eyes. "It was called 50 First Dates. And Santo…he already _said_ what he remembers and what he doesn't."

Santo folded his arms. "Yeah, but we don't know if he resets! We might be wastin' our time right now, if he won't remember this tomorrow."

"Oh my _god_." Cessily rubbed her face.

"I don't 'reset.'" Julian paused. "I just…I don't remember what happened to me. I remember waking up with the hands. And then coming here." He paused. "What happened to Laura? Do you know where she is?"

"The facility took her." Cessily frowned. "This really evil lab that experiments on mutants. They had kidnapped me…and you two—and Laura—came to save me. It turned out that it they were the people that _made_ Laura in the first place, and I guess they wanted her back."

"'Made'?" Julian frowned. "Wait a minute. Logan said she was his clone."

"Yeah, but she didn't look like it!" Santo grinned. "You know how Frost is a ten? And Cess is a two? Well, she was like a _fifteen_."

" _Santo!"_ Cessily glared at him. "Really, I think the time has passed where _you_ can talk about me like that when I'm present." _Annnd he wonders why it ended._

Julian's eyebrows raised. "What?" he blurted, startled. He had sensed something was off with them, but he wasn't about to start prying. But Cessily was _really_ projecting. Had they been _dating_ or something? For a moment, he was completely distracted from his own situation. "The hell is going on with you two?"

Santo opened his mouth, but Cessily's hand shot out and clamped it shut.

"Never mind." She paused. "Laura was…a good person who grew up in a horrible place. I was there for, like, half a day…and you have _no idea_ how much counselling and therapy it took me to get over that. I still twitch when I see anything that reminds me of that place." _Like electricity, god I can't stand being near Nori anymore…_ there were a few brief mental flashes of Cessily being electrocuted as she screamed. She shuddered.

Julian swallowed. "And they have Laura now?"

"Dude, you looked for her. For, like, a year and a half." Santo frowned. "Probably more. She just…dropped off the face of the earth. We helped you as much as we could…but that was back when the whole baby-war thing was goin' on." Pause. "Wait a minute. The little girl I saw with Cable back at the mansion ain't that _baby,_ is she?"

"Yeah. Her name is Hope." Julian frowned. "So. Laura's being held by bad people, and it's been…" he paused, doing some math. "Over two years since she was taken?"

Cessily nodded.

Julian bit his lip. How had he allowed so much time to elapse? What the fuck was wrong with him? "I have to find her." He frowned. "There's something I need to do tonight…then I'll start looking again. I wish I could remember the details, but..."

"I don't know if you _can_ find her." Cessily gave him a sad look. "Julian…everyone looked for her. The X-men. Frost searched _daily_ with Cerebra. Maybe she's not even alive anymore."

Julian shook his head. "She's alive." He realized that he could probably look for her himself now. The Cuckoos had probably planted those skills in his mind too. He began trying to think how he would get access to Cerebra, with Frost and the Cuckoos using it around the clock. Also, how would he know who to look for? He didn't even remember what Laura looked like, or sounded like. _That's not true._

"How do you know that?" Cessily asked.

"She was the one who killed me." He said this absentmindedly. He was now thinking about that dream he'd had on the way here. Had he actually been talking to her? He straightened slightly. Then he noticed that his friends were giving him blank stares. And what he'd said. " _Shit_." He paused. "I—I said that wrong. I meant—"

 _Mr. Keller, your presence is requested back at the school._ Frost's voice suddenly whispered in his ear. _Logan is quite…impatient about something._

Julian knocked over a salt shaker, startled. He flushed and righted it, closing his eyes. How was he supposed to respond? Then he just _did,_ somehow. _Yeah, tell him I'll be right there._ He wasn't ready to try speaking directly into Logan's head. That was an experiment for another day.

Frost paused. He could sense she was surprised he had replied mentally. She must not know about the Cuckoos helping him today. _Certainly._

"What's going on, Julian?" Cessily leaned over the table again. "First you say Laura _killed_ you, then you just go quiet and space out?! You _need_ to tell us! I'm so worr-"

"I'm sorry, but I can't." Julian shoved his chair backward and got to his feet, digging in his pocket for his wallet. "I have to go. You guys finish dinner…we'll catch up more later, okay?"

"But—" Cessily began again, but he shook his head, tossed a twenty on the table for his share, then headed out of the restaurant and onto the sidewalk.

He was just about to launch into the air. _You're going the wrong way!_

He froze. He remembered saying these words, at this spot. In an angry, frustrated way. His forehead wrinkled, and he looked down the sidewalk, trying to recover the whole memory. There was a glimpse of a girl walking away from him, shoving her hands into her coat pockets. She had long, dark hair.

"…" He stood in place for a few moments, distracted. They had been here. _Laura_ had been here. Why? Why had he been angry with her? But that was all his brain was going to give him right now. Just the few fragments, of him being frustrated, and her walking away.

He'd have to come back to this spot later.


	19. Chapter 19 - Spaghetti Theory

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Woohoo, 102 reviews! Thanks so much to everyone who has been reading my story and giving feedback. I believe I responded to everyone via PM, some a little late as I got mixed up and didn't realize two reviewers asking questions were not the same person. Oooops. Thanks for reading and hope all continue to enjoy! Tip: For some general answers about X-force/characters other than Julian, I recommend reading the third series of X-force, or looking up issue summaries via google.

* * *

CHAPTER 19

 _Spaghetti Theory_

* * *

"Keller, get up here." Logan called this from the pilot's seat. "You sit shotgun from now on, till someone more competent comes along." He had listened to the news of James leaving without a word, just a shrug, but Julian could have sworn he saw the hint of a smile.

He had sat down in the back rows, as usual. They were mostly empty now. Josh was the only other person on board. Rahne and Angel were receiving counselling from Frost, and Cable and Hope were hanging around the school for security, until whatever threat they feared had passed. Julian had received only vague answers when he had tried to find out who they were hiding from.

Julian paused. "Why?"

"Cause someone else has gotta be up front, and it sure as hell ain't gonna be Elixir." Logan wrinkled his nose. "So don't pat yourself on the back too much."

" _Hey!"_ Josh sounded outraged. "Quit picking on me!"

Julian rolled his eyes as he unbuckled his seatbelt and headed to the front. "I'm afraid to sit near you since I learned that you're basically a bullet magnet."

"Heh." Logan started hitting buttons on the dashboard. "You know how to fly?"

"Some." Julian frowned. "I did a couple simulations, at the school."

"Well, consider this a lesson, then. You can take us up."

"Can I _not_ be in the back of a plane with a pilot in training?!" Josh sounded nervous.

"Shut up." Logan paused. "Get a seat in the front row so you can see what he's doin'. Might be a good thing for you to learn too."

About twenty minutes later, they were nearing the big standalone building that housed the CDC laboratories. Julian was growing more and more anxious by the second. Not only at the thought of landing the jet, but at what came after. He was supposed to mask their presence from the CDC workers. Frost and Jean Grey-Summers, and the Cuckoos, and even Professor Xavier, had all taken nearly a _decade_ to hone their skills. He hadn't even intentionally used his telepathy yet, aside from the reply he'd sent to Frost. Now he was supposed to pull off advanced tricks like this?

"Could you not doubt yourself so loudly in my head, kid?" Logan was giving him a flat look. "Makin' me nervous."

"Sorry." Julian closed his eyes, and forced himself to relax. "I just…this is a lot of pressure."

"You'll do fine." Logan paused. "An' if you don't, well, maybe Summers will learn somethin' about draftin' kids for his fight."

Julian closed his eyes. "I'm not sure I'm a kid anymore."

"Well, Elixir is. We'll blame him." Logan grinned. "No one'll be surprised to hear he screwed up."

"What the hell! I'm _right here!_ " Josh glared at Logan, folding his arms.

"Stop giving him a reaction." Julian was angling his steering yoke downwards, trying to do so gradually so the jet wouldn't go into a dive. "That's all he's looking for."

"And now I have _you_ giving me advice on how not to get picked on?" Josh shook his head. "Did, like, I actually _die_ and go to hell during one of those close calls I've had recently?"

"Probably." Logan pointed at the dashboard. "Doin' good, kid, but make sure you bring out the wheels, or we're in for a rough landin'. Start cuttin' your speed too."

Julian nodded. "Okay."

 **…**

"Holy crap." Josh was waving his hands in front of a lab worker, a woman dressed head to toe in white garments, a blue mask covering the lower half of her face, a pale green shower cap over her hair, and goggles hanging around her neck. She didn't even blink. "How are you _doing_ this?"

Julian shrugged. "I just…told her we weren't here. Somehow." He was amazed how easily it had come to him, when he had actively wondered how he should go about cloaking the team's presence. Whatever the Cuckoos had done, had worked wonders. It was weird. These things he could do, he wasn't consciously aware he _could_ do them. He had no associated muscle memory, no experiences to draw on. He felt like he might never know all the things he was capable of.

There was another thing about telepathy that bothered him. Once he realized what he needed to do, it was easy to control people around him. Too easy. He had barely even needed to think about doing it. He'd had a lot of experience in learning _not_ to think about stupid things, because telekinesis could make them happen, and also in how to focus, so that what he wanted _would_ happen. But with this, it was almost second nature. He just _did_ it.

He knew someone else for which stuff like this was second nature. Someone he very much did not want to be like.

"We need to get down to the secret sub-sub-basement." Logan paused. "Elevator's this way. Follow."

"This is starting to feel _creepy._ " Josh rubbed his arms. "They're all just walking past us, like we're ghosts or something."

"Yeah." Julian frowned, but he followed Logan down the hallway and to the elevator. He glanced at his wristwatch, and saw the big red numbers said 22:52. That left them eight minutes to get down three floors and walk across half of the massive building. He wondered if he would need to fly them ahead. Too bad he hadn't figured out how to go fast again, either.

By the time they arrived at the lab, they had one minute to spare. Julian paused outside the door.

 _Porter will be here any second. Should aim and take the safety off now._

Julian looked at Logan. "There's…uh…someone here is _not_ from the CDC." His forehead wrinkled. "She's here to catch the guy, too."

Logan raised his eyebrows and sniffed the air. "Aw, fuck."

"…" Julian gave him a flat look. "Bad news?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Logan paused, and pushed up his mask. "It's _Domino._ She has these luck powers…" He looked at Julian. "Kid, take the wammy off her. I'm gonna go try talkin' to her, get her on our side."

"Sure." Julian peered through the glass window at the woman, who was pretending to use a micropipette on a petri dish. But it was so obvious. She hadn't even put a tip on the tool. He started to smirk, then he froze. What the fuck? How did he even know what that thing she was holding _was?_ Then he remembered the mental upload. The parts that weren't about telepathy or telekinesis. The biochemistry stuff. He cringed. Apparently, they had uploaded Dr. McCoy's nerdy sense of humor, too.

"Kid? You gonna do your thing, or—"

"I did it like five minutes ago." Julian looked at Logan. " _You're_ the one standing around."

"Shut up." Logan paused. "Open the door too. Don't wanna trip the alarms."

"I'll try." Julian looked at the heavily secured door, tried to picture what the lock mechanism would look like. Then he _was_ there, in the wires, tampering with the flow of the electrical current, tricking the system into thinking a card had been swiped. To his surprise, the door beeped and swung open.

Logan stepped in.

Domino whipped around and shot him in the head.

"HURRRK-" Logan stumbled backward, a bullet sticking out of his forehead for a moment, then popping onto the floor with a _tink!_ "SON OF A FUCKING BITCH!"

" _Logan?!_ " Domino lowered her pistol. "Is that—"

 _VTTT!_ A man suddenly popped into existence, nearby the secure-looking fridge in the back. His head was bald and shiny, waxed, and his skin was covered in tattoos, including a broad stripe around his eyes and head, like a mask. He was rummaging in his pocket, probably for a key of some sort.

"Oh no you don't!" Julian reached out and grabbed him, dragging him backward. The man's sneakers squeaked on the polished linoleum floor. "Get over—"

 _VTTT! BAM!_ The fridge rocked to and fro for a moment. _VTTT!_

"Holy shit, did he just—" Josh ran into the room.

"I fucking had him!" Julian gritted his teeth. "God _damn_ it!"

Logan leaned on the doorframe. He was holding his head. "My _skull_ is ringing. Why would you shoot me?!"

"I dunno, maybe I was on edge already and then out of nowhere you just walked in?" Domino holstered her gun. "Great. You just cost me a _huge_ contract, Logan, and your team of…" She raised her eyebrows. "Are those teenagers?! Is this a _field trip_ or something?"

Julian glared at her. "Well, I'm the only one here who actually did something _useful,_ so maybe I should be teaching _you_." His hands formed fists, and the tray of glass Erlenmeyer flasks near him began to make strange humming noises.

"Everyone shut up." Logan rubbed his head. "You're makin' my headache worse. An' I'm tryin' to process the fact that we just let that piece of shit steal the Legacy virus template."

"I've been on Vanisher's case for a _week_." Domino paused. "I know his routine. He has four safe houses in Japan. He _always_ goes there, after a heist. There are four of us…" she paused again, point at Josh. "Is he useful? Like, does he do anything?"

Logan shrugged. "Not really."

" _Please_." Josh glared at them. "I'm a healer. I control cell metabolism, by touch." He paused. "I can also kill, if I want to. So…don't make me want to."

"Perfect." Domino grinned. "Then we station one of us in each one of those safe houses, and give him some tough love till he gives up the vial. He'll break easy." She paused. "You go last, death touch."

 **…**

"Be ready." Logan's voice came in over the commlink. "Vanisher just fled number two."

Julian got up from the easy chair. He had been trying to think of something he could do without accidentally killing his target. They needed information on who had hired him. And he couldn't risk breaking the vial without boiling its contents first. Normally all that would be no problem, since he'd really had to concentrate. But now, considering how his powers were acting up…then it occurred to him that he could do other things now.

He didn't feel confident enough for mental interrogation, yet, but there was something else he could try.

 _VTTT!_ He heard the noise in the darkened hallway ahead. Now, heavy breathing. _Stabbed…me…_ Vanisher was thinking. "…man…" he groaned out loud.

Julian focused. _Get lost, asswipe._

 _VTTT!_

A few minutes passed. Then Josh came in on the radio. "Guys, I got him. He's going for a second opinion right now…but he's _definitely_ going to be back."

"Keep it up and you might actually be worth havin' around, Elixir." Logan paused, the silence filled with static. "But then I'd have to learn your name and everythin', so maybe not."

"Fuck you!" Josh exploded. In the background, Julian could hear Domino laughing.

Julian smirked, too.

Then the radio buzzed again. "Cyclops here. We have a situation." He paused. "Return to the school ASAP."

 **…**

The jet had barely touched down on the school lawn when the door burst open, and the four tumbled out, Logan leading the way.

The flight back from Japan had taken them an agonizing five-and-a-half hours, even at the Jet's top speed, which was two point five times that of a 747. There had been no further communications from Summers, which probably meant bad news.

Julian saw that the school's front door was hanging on its hinges. He scrambled to his feet and began running up the stairs, after Logan, who was already disappearing into the interior. They could hear shooting deep inside the school, along with what sounded like electricity, and energy blasts. Julian skidded into the room just in time to see a big man with tightly braided hair about to discharge his glowing arm right into Cable's face.

He made a fist.

"AHG!" The stranger grabbed his still-glowing hand with his other one.

Julian didn't know what he had done, but he wasn't about to stop now. He charged toward the man.

"Stop!" Cable tackled him from the side. They tumbled to the ground.

Julian glared at him. "What the—"

"He absorbs kinetic energy!" Cable glared right back at him. "If you hit him at all, you'll just make him stronger!"

"Okay." Julian looked at his target. "Kill or—"

"Kill!" Cable's voice was firm.

Julian looked up at the man's head, but before he could do anything, Logan, who had initially gone the other way, probably to check on Hope, charged into the room. "No! Stop! Bishop's one of us!"

" _He tried to kill Hope!"_ Cable gritted his teeth. "He killed Xavier, at the start of all this! The fuck is your problem?!"

"This is a man that has fought with us, time and time again!" Logan. "He ain't doin' right by tryin' to kill her, but that don't mean we should kill _him!_ There are other ways! Do a mind trick or somethin', Keller!"

"That won't work!" Cable. "He had psi-shields installed! He needs to be put down, for good! _Now!"_

The two men glared at Julian.

"Kill him!" Cable hissed.

"Don't kill him!" Logan's nose wrinkled in a snarl. "Touch one braincell and I swear to god—"

Julian raised his hands in the air. "Fine, fine." He paused, trying not to heed Cable's look of pure loathing. "But seriously…how are we going to control him? If I can't even do mind tricks, how the hell—"

As if waiting for him to ask, Bishop let out the longest, strongest stream of energy Julian had ever seen, sending all three of them tumbling across the room. When it finally stopped, Logan was on fire, and Cable was unconscious. Julian had faired a little better, since his shield had activated a moment after the beam had struck his skin. But he was disorientated. For a moment, he was seeing double. He sat up, blinking and trying to understand what had just happened.

"Fuckin'…" Logan also sat up. "Put me out, kid."

Julian glanced at him, and snuffed out the flames with a thought. "We need to protect Hope."

Logan shook his head. "No need. I had Elixir heal Pixie…then I had her teleport Hope to my cabin, in Canada."

"That was smart." Julian paused, remembering something. Bishop. _Bishop._ He'd heard that name before. "Wait a minute. Is Bishop that guy who can time travel?"

"…" Logan scrambled to his feet and ran in the direction that Bishop had disappeared to, Julian again close on his heels.

They reached the foyer, just in time to see Bishop disappear into thin air.

"MOTHER. FUCKER!" Logan roared.

"…" Julian rubbed his face with his palms. "Okay. So...can _we_ time travel?" He paused, realizing he knew the answer. "Yes. Yes we can. Hank—er—Dr. McCoy's been tinkering."

They ran down toward the sub-basement, Cable following.

 **…**

"Logan—is that you? Why I haven't seen you in a while! What have—" Dr. McCoy said with what was supposed to be a friendly smile.

"HANK!" Logan leaped over a table and grabbed the startled doctor by the lapels of his lab coat, almost causing his small glasses to be knocked off his muzzle. "I need whatever do-hickey Summers has you workin' on, _pronto_."

"The Chronological String Displacement and Replacement Device." Julian paused and wrinkled his nose. " _Ugh_. Could you seriously have not thought of a better name for that?"

"I had been thinking about Chronological Order Regulating Device, or CORD as I affectionately call it, but I was afraid of getting laughed out of the running for a Nobel again." Dr. McCoy blinked. "How do you—"

"HANK!" Logan shook him. "Give me the fuckin' thing, _now!"_

"Bishop has Hope!" Cable's voice had an edge of panic.

Dr. McCoy's eyes widened. "Oh dear. Yes, hang on…" he led them toward his lab space, fumbling with a keyring. "I had no idea—"

"You seriously couldn't _hear_ this place bein' torn up?" Logan stared at him.

"I had Scott soundproof my laboratory…the children are often so loud. I had just come out for a cup of coffee when—ah, here we go." He had unlocked a small safe, and was now pulling out several things that looked like wrist watches. "I was planning to make a dozen. I have made half so far."

"Keller, get Elixir and Domino." Logan looked at Hank as he took one of the watches. "Anythin' we should know?"

Julian closed his eyes. _Guys…meet us downstairs. Shit's going down._

"Yes." Dr. McCoy adjusted his glasses. "You cannot remain chronologically displaced for more than thirty-two-and-a-half hours."

Julian raised his eyebrows. "What happens if we stay longer than that?"

Dr. McCoy frowned. "You will die."

"Oh." Julian's eyebrows drew together. "That's a pretty serious side effect."

Logan gritted his teeth, glaring at him. "Keller—did I not just tell you to—"

"I _did!_ " Julian glared back at him. "Jeez, get off my case already. The idea of telepathy is I don't have to _leave_ the roomto cater to your whims."

"I'm sure they will arrive shortly." Dr. McCoy frowned. "Now, I have not actually tested these devices on anything larger than an earthworm. Theoretically—"

Julian's forehead wrinkled. "Really? You couldn't at least have used a bunny or something?"

"Well..." Dr. McCoy adjusted his glasses again. "I have…difficulties with small creatures and my…feline nature." He paused. "I am tempted eat them before the experiment is over, you see."

"…" Julian and Logan stared at him.

"We're coming!" Josh yelled. He and Domino skidded into the lab a few seconds later. The latter was holding what looked like an AK-47.

"Great." Logan began handing them their devices.

Julian strapped his around his metal wrist and gazed at it. There was something nagging at him. The thought that there was something he could _do_ with this device, after the immediate crisis was past. He couldn't think of what it was, though.

"Okay. Let's get ourselves back to just before we left for the CDC…take Hope and Cable somewhere safe."

"Why not farther?" Julian paused. "Why not just travel back to when Hope was _born?_ Or even back to when this all started, M-day? Go take Scarlet Witch out?"

"Loop Quantum Gravity theory and String theory may differ on a lot of points, but both seem to agree that when tinkering with space-time…the larger the jump, the more risks there are." Dr. McCoy folded his arms, leaning back against his counter. "It is safer to do a small jump. Correct for a small mistake. The effect will still be huge…but more controlled than such a drastic change would be."

"Agreed." Cable frowned. "That's how you end up with alternate realities, kid." He was tapping something on his arm.

"…" Julian rubbed his face with his palms for the second time that day. "Holy shit. This is giving me a headache."

"Tell me about it." Domino shook her head. "Just earlier this morning, I was looking forward to cashing in a cool one-mill contract and taking a Caribbean vacay. And now I'm listening to spaghetti theory or whatever the hell it's called."

"I think it was string theory." Josh paused. "I'm not a hundred percent on that, though."

 _VTTTTT!_

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME?!" Vanisher was suddenly in front of them, screaming and waving a picture in the air, his eyes wide. He stomped toward Josh.

"Aw, hell!" Logan grabbed Vanisher by the shoulder and span him around. "Listen up, you piece of shit! We ain't got time to deal with you right now! Just fuckin' sit your ass down somewhere and we'll kick it when we get back."

"Wait a tick. We could probably use him." Cable paused. "Teleporting's never a bad thing on your squad."

"What the hell— _no!_ I am NOT fucking teleporting the people who murdered me _anywhere!_ " Vanisher glared at Logan. "Forget it! You guys put this…whatever the hell it is in my head!" He waved the picture again. It was an X-ray.

"Inoperable brain tumor." Josh grinned. "Not bad, huh?"

Julian squinted. "The dark thing that's shaped like an _X_?"

"Yeah! I was gonna do a smiley face but I didn't know how long I had. Plus I need to make sure it—"

"Don't ruin the surprise." Logan paused. _Snikt!_

Julian started at the sound, backing up and crashing into a cart full of metal and glass things. Everyone looked at him for a moment. "…continue," he mumbled, his face red. He wasn't sure why he had reacted like that.

Logan turned back to Vanisher. "You do exactly what we say and maybe Elixir here will heal you up. If not…you'll die for sure, but we might make it hurt extra."

"The hell is _wrong_ with you people?!" Vanisher sputtered. "That's sick! You're all _sick fucks!"_

"Sick fucks who are in a hurry." Logan slid his claw up the man's nostril. "So, what's it going to be, Porter?"

"Hell. No."

Logan flicked his wrist to the side.

"AAHHHGHHH!"

"Oh my—" Dr. McCoy exclaimed.

Julian looked at him, and without even thinking about it, erased the memory. _You were getting coffee._

"Coffee, anyone?" Dr. McCoy sounded cheerful.

"No thanks." Logan yanked Vanisher closer. "I can do the other one too, bub. Your choice. Help, or I hack you into little bitty pieces."

Vanisher looked at Josh, then Julian, out of the corners of his eyes. "You wouldn't. You have _kids_ here."

"Guys…" Josh's voice wavered. "This is—"

Julian rolled his eyes and grabbed Vanisher's wrist.

"NNNYYEAAHHHGGHH!" Porter yanked his hand back. His skin was red and bubbling.

Logan glared at Julian. "Stay outta this."

He shrugged. "He's the one who brought me into it."

"Yeah, well…don't mean you have to fall for the bait, kid."

Julian folded his arms. "Great. Let's keep arguing in front of this joker. Show him a united front and all."

"Shut up." Logan rolled his eyes, and turned back to Vanisher. "Porter…you got guts, I'll give you that. I've seen better men than you piss themselves when the claws came out." He paused. "But you've done a _bad_ thing. You're gonna be the reason we all die. Every. Last. Fuckin'. Mutant. Ain't no one gonna be safe from what you stole. Unless you hand it over and let hothead here boil it."

"Hey!" Julian glared at him.

Vanisher gazed at Logan for a few moments as well. Then he cleared his throat. "I…I don't have it." He paused. "I kind of panicked and miscalculated when I went to hand the sample over…wrong lab…there was a bunch of snarling and I turned around and there was a _whole_ bunch of guys that had it out for me." He paused again. "Marauders. Sabretooth…Harpoon…Vertigo…Scrambler…yeah, didn't stick around to ID them all. They looked like something off the Walking Dead." He hesitated. "I dropped the vial. And I wasn't about to go back for it."

Logan closed his eyes. "Sure, why the hell not? Everyone _else_ is comin' back from the dead…why not Sabretooth? Not like I cut off his _head_ or anythin'."

"They were probably clones." Dr. McCoy adjusted his glasses as he reentered the room, holding a mug of coffee daintily between his huge fingers, and a saucer on the palm of his other paw. "Mr. Sinister has produced clones in the past. He has entire clone farms for the Marauders. I assume they hatched after Sinister…passed on. No need to fret—they're not _real._ " He took a sip of his coffee, sticking out his pinky finger.

Julian's eyebrows drew together, and he gritted his teeth. Something about the clone comment made him angry. He was about to protest, when Logan cleared his throat.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road. Fix the shit with Hope first. Then we'll fix the shit with the Legacy virus. In the present." Logan glanced at Vanisher, then shoved one of the time pieces at him. "Here. I don't trust you as far as I can throw you, but I'm trustin' your sense of self-preservation will shine through."

"Probably even shinier than his cancer-filled noggin." Josh reached up and rubbed his glossy scalp.

" _HEY!"_ Vanisher snapped.

Julian grinned.

"Everyone sync your watches." Logan was looking at his, adjusting the buttons. "Set them back about…a half hour. That should be enough time." He paused. "And kid…if we run into anyone but our targets…keep us cloaked."

Julian nodded as he tapped the arrow buttons on his time piece. He'd imagined a time machine would be more complicated, but there were only three buttons: UP, DOWN, and a big green circular button he figured was ENTER. He took a deep breath, then he pressed it.


	20. Chapter 20 - Burning Bright

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm sorry for taking a while to post, had some real life challenges lately and not a lot of writing time. Also, I have been fine-tuning the plotting of the coming chapters. I've (belated) responded to PM's, and now here is the next installement! Note the title is inspired by a song, _Burning Bright (Field on Fire)_ by Nine Inch Nails on their _Not the Actual Events_ EP. Hope you all enjoy!

PS: To the reader who asked about Gabby...as Thorber Stone commented, the scene with Laura meeting a clone of herself is worthy of attention...but I do indeed refuse to confirm or deny whether that is her. Read on! :-)

* * *

CHAPTER 20

 _Burning Bright_

* * *

Julian wasn't prepared for everything to warp around him, like he was in a tube of melting plastic. He lost his balance and fell to his knees, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Then, all of a sudden, everything straightened out again.

They were still in Dr. McCoy's lab. The doctor was now leaning over another watch device, using tweezers to carefully wrap what seemed like invisible wire around another component. He was very absorbed in his work.

"Kid—" Logan ordered, but Julian was already on it, tricking Dr. McCoy's brain into not processing the stimulation their presence caused to his senses. Again, he was amazed at how easily it came to him.

"Alright. We gotta be slick about this." Logan paused. "Vanisher. Cable. You two are gonna go out to my cabin, an' grab Hope as soon as Pixie an' her show up there. Bring her back here. That way, if Bishop went to the cabin, he'll be disappointed. Rest of us are gonna focus on him. Need to destroy _his_ time doohickey."

"It's in his arm." Julian paused. "I can make him sleep, then bust it."

"Might not be that easy, kid." Logan frowned. "He absorbs energy. That might include mental stuff." He paused. "We gotta be careful. No explosions. No energy. Small scale, kid."

"That's apparently my specialty now." Julian paused. "Besides…Domino, you're lucky, right?"

"Something like that. I could probably help you hit the right wire or whatever right away. Can't make him sleep though."

"It'll be tricky to do delicate work if he's moving around a lot."

"I could make him sleep." Josh paused. "And my powers aren't energy-based, so it'll work for sure. Can you mask my presence?"

"Yeah." Julian glanced at Logan. "Do we have your sign off?"

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Cable nodded. "Vanisher…get us to that cabin."

"Right. Just a cabin in fucking _Canada._ " Vanisher sneered. "How many places could _that_ be?"

"It's in Alberta, if that helps." Logan paused. "Off Peace Point, in Wood Buffalo."

"Sure." Vanisher folded his arms.

"Well, I don't know how the fuck your powers work!" Logan snarled at him. "What do you need?"

"Describe it. I find places by picturing them."

"…" Logan looked like he was about to lose his shit. "It's a fuckin' cabin."

"Why am I going to a cabin in Canada again?!" Vanisher gritted his teeth. "I was _possibly_ going to help you with the virus, but this isn't even related!"  
"It's just as important." Cable frowned. "If Hope dies…we're all dead too. She's the other part of this."

Julian hesitated, then looked at Logan. "Uh, if you want…I might be able to…transfer the picture to him?"

"Stay the _hell_ out of my head, Keller."

"Logan!" Cable's voice was firm. "This is _your_ mess. If we'd have killed him right then and there—"

"Grrr!" Logan closed his eyes. "Fine. I'm thinking about it, right now. Don't look at _anything else,_ you little shit."

"Wouldn't want to." Julian grabbed the picture out of his head and somehow transferred it into Vanisher's. Just being near his mind made him feel slimy.

 _VTT!_ Cable and Vanisher disappeared.

"Alright, action time." Logan charged ahead, out of the lab.

* * *

"How the hell is he here, if he travelled back in time and went to Canada?" Josh asked quietly. They were watching Bishop fighting Summers, catching his blasts in the palm of his hand. Julian hadn't really seen his old headmaster fight, and was somewhat impressed.

"Because he hasn't gone back yet." Logan paused. "If we did nothin' now, the loop would complete itself. But with what we're about to do…it causes a split. Bishop goin' back there will be its own lil time loop, an' it won't affect ours."

Josh paused. "Cool."

"You should probably go sleep him now." Julian paused. "We're going to be running in here at any second, and I have no idea if I can shield us from ourselves."

"God, if you fuck this up Elixir—" Logan started.

"Okay, okay!" Josh tiptoed into the room and reached out to touch Bishop on the neck.

The big man's eyes slid shut, and he toppled to the ground with a crash that could be felt through the floor boards. Julian ran forward and knelt by his side, running his hand over the other man's metal arm, searching for the time piece. There! Domino was beside him, touching his shoulder as he concentrated on destroying whatever system it was using. The metal was resisting his manipulations, but then he had the idea to remove the energy from the system.

"FUCK!" he yelled as he pulled it out, a tiny green bubble that was glowing white-hot inside. He could feel the pressure building.

"Good goin' kid." Logan paused. "Might wanna take that outside. We'll take it from here." He cracked his knuckles.

Julian scrambled to his feet, then ran for the entrance, focusing every braincell he had on not letting the explosion happen near his friends and teammates. It blew up right as he reached the front doors, sending them—and himself—flying into the garden outside.

* * *

A little while later, Julian came to in the bushes. He promptly rolled over and puked his guts out. By the time he stopped, he felt weak and his head was pounding. Dr. McCoy must've forgotten to mention this little side effect of time travel. Or else the explosion had really done a number on him. He finally rolled onto his back and laid still, his eyes sliding shut.

He felt like he was floating, in thick, sticky fluid. It was a familiar sensation. He felt like something was supposed to happen next. He waited for a long time, but nothing did.

Finally, he opened his eyes and sat up, brushing grass off his front and shoulders in an absentminded fashion. The watch caught his eye, flashing as it reflected the dim light of the sun. Such a weird thought, that he had just travelled back in time. What he wouldn't have given to have something like this at his fingertips a few times. Undo stupid mistakes. See people he missed. Find answers.

He tensed. All the answers, just waiting for him.

Before he could stop himself, he was tapping the dials. Two years and…a month? Two? What month _was_ it now? March. Fuck, his birthday was a couple weeks ago. Twenty. He didn't even remember celebrating. He paused, his eyebrows drawing together. Then he shrugged and hit the circular button.

This time, he was ready for the warp. As soon as things stopped moving around him, he staggered to his feet—just in time to throw himself deeper in the bushes, as he heard the front doors open…and his own voice speaking.

"Did you _see_ me in there? I mean, no one could lay a finger on me. I was just flying circles around the rest of you." Pause. "How am I not an X-man already?"

Julian's eyebrows drew together. He peered through the branches, and saw himself walking out of the school with Santo, a frisbee tucked under his arm. His _younger_ self. He tried to place this memory, but it wasn't ringing a bell.

"Yeah, you were awesome." Santo paused. "Nori didn't stand a chance."

"Seriously!" His past voice grew sharp. "Why the hell did Ms. Frost pick her to lead us? Is it like a sick joke or something?" Pause. "Does she want us to _die?_ "

In the bushes, Julian's eyebrows drew together. There was something different about the way he said that word. He realized what it was: there was no bitterness. His friends hadn't died on that bus yet. This was the day before it, right after that weird exercise Frost had made the whole school do. He exhaled through his mouth, as he realized he had a chance to stop all that. _No,_ he told himself firmly. He was only here to find answers.

"Guess so." Santo threw the frisbee back to him. "That other girl seemed to be kickin' your ass for a while there."

"Hey!" His past-self glared up at Santo. "I thought we agreed we wouldn't talk about the _clone_ anymore."

Julian leaned forward. Clone. This had to be about Laura. "Come on," he mouthed.

"I didn't agree to nothin'." Santo grinned.

"God, I can't believe she made the team, either." His past-self wrinkled his nose. "She's just—she's a _clone!_ A _copy!_ "

"Of _Wolverine."_

"Yeah, but she's not _real._ Can't even call her a proper human, let alone a mutant. That's probably why she still has powers." His past-self smirked. "I don't get why Mr. Summers was so worried about her being left out. She doesn't even have feelings _to_ hurt."

In the bushes, Julian swallowed. He was confused. Right now, he had a strong desire to punch the kid he was staring at in the face, for being a piece of shit. But that was _him._ Had he really been that big of a jerk? Had that really been the person he used to be? _Could_ he punch himself in the face? No, if he saw himself, that would probably cause some weird disaster and the result would be dinosaurs still roaming the planet. The same way he couldn't interfere with the bus. He closed his eyes, shook his head slightly, then concentrated on masking his presence. He needed to move on now, before he lost control and did something.

"Guess not." Santo frowned. "Where you want I should stand?"

"Wherever you want. You _know_ I can catch anything." His past-self sounded so confident. "I'll kick your ass no matter where you stand."

"True." Santo sounded amused.

Julian studied his friend, his eyebrows raised. Back then, he had figured that Santo hung out with him because he was the coolest kid at the school. But watching their interactions from the side like this gave him the sense that the other boy wasn't telling his past-self what he actually thought. Was Santo hanging around for _entertainment?_

He frowned. He didn't doubt that their friendship was genuine now. What was left of it, anyway. They'd been through too much together. Right? Or was he still that blind? His eyebrows drew together. Was there _nothing_ in his life that he could depend on anymore? Shaking his head, he slipped into the school, closing the door as quietly as he could. Then he looked up at the big staircase.

Laura. Would she be up there? Or was she even here at the school yet? He could try searching for her mind, but he was afraid of messing with that kind of stuff when he was in the past. Besides, he didn't even know what her mind was like, so how would he look for her? He'd have to do this the old-fashioned way. He began to climb.

In the hallway, he took a right at the fork, towards the girls' dorm. He racked his brain, trying to remember who hadn't had a roommate around this time. A _lot_ of people. Sofia, but she was probably gone by now. Or was she? Would she help him? He reached out to knock on her door, preparing to drop the mind cloak, then pulled his hand away at the last moment.

Sofia had been pretty upset with him around this time as is, if he recalled right. Worse, she would probably get Frost involved. Which was the last thing he needed right now. He didn't even _question_ that Frost could kick his ass. It was a given. Trying to fight her with his telepathy was like bringing knives to a gun fight. Hell, she might already be aware of him, and be on her way up here. Not that she needed to be physically present, but she did have a flare for the theatrical.

Which meant he needed to act fast. He looked down the hallway and bit his lip, his eyebrows drawing together. How was he going to find Laura, then? He didn't even really know what she looked like. All he knew was she was a girl, that vaguely resembled Logan.

Footsteps. Behind him. He turned around and held his breath, watching the end of the hallway. Could it be her? No. His heart sank as he saw who it was. That odd girl who always spoke in riddles. What was her name? Ruby? Rudy? No, it was Ruth. He used to crack jokes about her with Brian and Santo, sometimes when she was in earshot. She looked the same as the last time he had seen her. She wore a white strip of cloth wrapped around where her eyes should be, and a fringed shawl tightly around her shoulders. Santo always said he was reminded of the crazy cat lady from the Simpsons. Julian felt frustrated, but he waited for her to pass.

She brushed past him, then stopped and turned around. "You are, excuse me, looking for Laura Kinney?"

Julian's forehead wrinkled. "You can _see_ me?" Fuck, he couldn't even trick a blind girl into not seeing him? What had Summers and the Cuckoos been _thinking,_ risking all their lives on his weak skills?

"I see everything." Ruth frowned. "I see then, I see now. You won't find her here."

He frowned too. "She's not at the school yet?" His past-self had clearly been talking about Laura. Unless there was another female clone of Wolverine running around the school, which would be really confusing.

Ruth reached up and tapped his forehead, right above his mask. "You will find her in here. Soon. But not now. Please wait, thank you. There is something you must do first. Or it won't matter where she is."

He paused. "…what?"

"On the air, without wings. Breathe, breathe, we all fall down." Ruth leaned forward. "Burn."

Julian stared at her.

"Yes." Ruth said this as if he had spoken, then tilted her head. "Excuse me. We will see each other soon. Hours for you, years for me. Yes, goodbye." She threw the end of her shawl over her shoulder, then continued down the hallway, her nose in the air.

Julian felt a headache coming on. A big one. As if time travel and string theory and alternate time loops weren't hard enough, now Ruth had given him a prophecy in the form of a brain teaser. _What the fuck_.

The only thing that had been clear about all that was he wouldn't find Laura now, so he returned to the stairs, shaking his head slightly as he went.

A hand clapped around his metal wrist. "KELLER! What the _hell_ are you _doing?!_ "

Logan. Of course. How had he known where to find him? _When_ to find him? Julian squeezed his eyes shut, extended his mental camouflage to cloak his presence, too. "Yeah, yeah."

"Not 'yeah, yeah' kid!" Logan growled. "This is dangerous shit. Give me that goddamn thing. Right. Now."

Julian yanked his hand free, with surprisingly little effort. "I wasn't going to _do_ anything, jeez. I was just…trying to piece it all together. You refused to tell me about Laura, so I was trying to find out for myself. Do you _know_ what it's like to feel like your head is a jigsaw puzzle?"

Logan guffawed. "You seriously askin' _me_ that? Do you know who I am?"

"…" Julian looked down. "Yeah. Sorry. I…forgot. I just…" he frowned. "I don't believe you when you say she's safe."

"Kid." Logan frowned too. "I didn't tell you nothin' because I'm worried sick you're gonna charge off on your own—like this—and get killed. _Again._ " He frowned. "And I won't be able to help you. I gotta stop what Bastion put in motion. He's hellbent on killin' _all_ of us."

Julian hesitated, then shook his head. "I can't live with myself if she's hurting."

Logan sighed. "You want the truth? Fine." He folded his arms. "The Facility sure ain't a good place. It's downright evil. They're torturin' her, and makin' her do things that are a hundred times more fucked up than anythin' we're doin'. Forcin' her to kill. Treatin' her like an animal. Less."

Julian flinched, his mouth opening.

"Whatever evils they do…" Logan leaned forward slightly. "They ain't gonna _kill_ her." He paused. "She's an investment. They invested a hell of a lot of money into her, and they ain't about to flush it down the drain." He paused. "But Legacy…it don't care who or what you are. It don't care what kind of trainin' you have, or how much you're worth. Everyone just ends up dead and gone, till there's no one even left to _bury_ us."

"Yeah, okay. Maybe I get it." Julian hesitated. "But I could get her out of there. Alone. No one else needs to be pulled off the team."

"I hate to admit it, kid, but we need your help right now." Logan shifted. "Domino's great, but she don't see the big picture. Just the fight in front of her. And Elixir's close to his breakin' point already. He smells like pure adrenaline every time I bark an order." He paused. "With Jimmy gone…it's just me an' you. The ones who are playin' for keeps. Who know what's at stake here, an' how far we gotta be willin' to go to stop it."

Julian gazed at the older man.

Logan's eyes narrowed. "You saw Stryker standin' on that jet, same as I did." He paused. "These are the end times. Any of us quit now, and we're all done."

Julian closed his eyes, curling his lip. "Fine. But…after this…after we get that sample back…I'm going after her. I don't care what you say."

"Good kid." Logan patted his shoulder. "Come on, hand the thingamajig over."

"One sec." Julian headed down the staircase, then headed out to the lawn, where his younger self was still playing frisbee with Santo. He was currently holding it above his friend's head with his powers, smirking and moving it away by a few inches every time he tried to reach for it. He might not be able to show himself, but there was something else he _could_ do.

"Aw man! C'mon!" Santo sounded frustrated. "Dude…this ain't cool!"

"Kid—" Logan called, his voice filled with new worry. Running footsteps.

Julian hauled his metal fist back. He paused for a moment, to check his force, then rammed it into his past-self's face with a resounding _CRUNCH._

"OWWW! SANTO, WHAT THE—" his past-self yelled, grabbing his face, but Julian had already pressed the RETURN button. The world around him swam. He dropped to his knees and dug his fingers into the grass, trying not to start puking again.

He remembered that time now. Playing frisbee on the lawn with Santo. His face suddenly exploding with pain, blood flying from his broken nose. How they had run to find Elixir, arguing all the while over whose fault it had been, and him being worried that his face was going to look all messed up.

Despite how illogical it was, he grinned.

Logan materialized a few feet away. "Kid, that was the dumbest thing I've _ever_ seen you do!" His voice was full of fury. "Could've killed yourself!" He held out his hand for the watch.

"Yeah…but it was…incredibly…satisfying." Julian shook his head, then forced himself to get to his feet. He swayed, but managed to take a few steps and hand the watch over, still grinning. "How'd you know when to find me, anyway?"

"Because Hank's smarter than any of us and logs the watches on his computer. This situation is givin' me a migraine, an' he's fuckin' makin' 3-D _graphs_ of it. Now come the fuck on, we got work to do."

* * *

"Okay. Time to go fix the Legacy problem." Logan was surveying his team with folded arms. Cable was now absent, keeping an eye on Hope, and Bishop was safely contained in a holding cell, still sleeping off whatever Josh had done. But Domino, Julian, Josh, and Vanisher were all standing in a circle around him.

The latter gave him a flat look. "I was hoping that maybe you forgot."

"Sorry to disappoint." Logan paused. "You remember the lab, or you need me to paint you a picture of that, too?"

"Hah, hah."

"So, what are we going to do if the vial broke?" Domino asked.

Logan shrugged. "Elixir can heal us."

"Uh, excuse _me._ " Josh glared at him. "I have _no idea_ if I can heal Legacy virus. That's, like, guaranteed death for any mutant."

"I could bubble us?" Julian suggested.

"Your bubbles impermeable to air, kid?" Domino asked.

Julian frowned. "Never checked."

Logan sighed. "Look. Either it didn't break an' we're good. Just pop in, grab it, pop out. Or it did break, an' we're all dead anyway, and this is the shittiest day on earth."

"I like the first option better." Julian paused. "How do we make it happen?"

"Well, you guys have me along, so there's that." Domino grinned. "I bet it's fine. I was just saying that to scare the other kid. He was looking a little pale under all the gold."

"Thanks." Josh rolled his eyes. "Why are we wasting time? Let's _go_ already!"

Logan looked at Vanisher. "What're you waiting for?"

Vanisher closed his eyes.

* * *

 _VTTT!_

They were suddenly in an all-metal room: steel from floor to ceiling, dimly lit, with lots of dark corners. Julian felt a knot form in his stomach. Familiarity. It must remind him of the lab that took Laura. That _made_ her. Logan had called it the Facility. He ran his eyes over the sharp angles, the gray surfaces, the metal tools on the trays. Sterile. Cold. Was she like that too?

"I hear 'em." Logan looked at the door to the lab. "In a room, off the hallway. That were you ported the first time, Vanisher?"

"Probably." Vanisher paused. "Good luck!"

"Nope!" Julian had grown familiar enough with the man's powers and thoughts by now to know how they worked. He sensed the idea of escaping as it formed in his head, and he jammed the teleportation command before it could trigger his powers.

"Grrr—" Vanisher glared at him. "Get out of my head, you stupid—"

"You're the one who tried to split on us!" Julian returned his glare. "You might not be afraid of pain…but I can do plenty of other stuff. I could make you think you're a fucking _squirrel_ if I want to." He paused. "Don't make me want to."

Vanisher fell silent.

"Thought so." Julian glanced over and saw that Logan was already walking toward the door, so he followed. He could sense the tension in the room. Everyone was terrified about the idea that they might be about to wipe out the mutant race by releasing Legacy.

A set of images flashed in front of his eyes. A set of claws through Josh's throat. Domino slumping against a wall, blood dripping from a hole in her head. Himself, being stabbed from behind. Through his torso. In the background, on the floor, broken glass. The vial. Shattered.

Julian stared at the back of Logan's head, his eyebrows drawing together. He wasn't sure if he had really just seen all that. Was it…was it some kind of a backup plan? Was that what Logan had meant by them having a shitty day? If the vial had broken…would he _kill_ them?

Not for the first time out of all the times he'd gone on these missions, Julian felt sick. Killing targets in cold blood so they wouldn't be killed themselves was one thing. Killing teammates was another. Logan had said that's who he was. That he was playing for keeps. That he knew how far they needed to be willing to go. He swallowed. Was that who he was now? Someone who just gave up on his friends? His heart started beating in his ears.

"You alright there, kid?" Logan was glancing back at him, his knuckles pointed toward the keypad that controlled the lab door. There was concern in his voice.

Julian hesitated. He realized that he couldn't let Logan know he'd seen what he was thinking, or else he would change the plan. He had a choice to make. As far as he could see it, there were two options: accept it and die with his teammates, or fight. Fight Logan. That was a whole different kind of terrifying, but already he realized he didn't actually have a choice. He'd rather die fighting than go quietly. He cleared his throat. "I'm fine."

"Here we go then."

Julian braced himself for the _SNIKT!_ that followed. He didn't jump this time, but he did twitch slightly. There was just no helping it. He eyed the six-inch adamantium blades, which might be carving him up in a minute or two. Would his shield hold?

Logan swiped through the keypad, then pushed the door out of his way and looked around. "There it is. On the floor." Pause. "It ain't broken."

Collective sighs of relief. Julian relaxed slightly.

Logan glanced at him. "Grab it, Keller."

Julian shook his heads. "My powers aren't stable enough." He paused. "We lucked out so far. Vanisher—"

"No! I'm not going back in there!" Vanisher gritted his teeth.

"Looks like we're all going in there, then." Logan paused. "Someone's gotta grab that vial though, an' keep it safe durin' the fight. Elixir, you think you can do that?"

"Uh—" Josh paused.

"INTRUDERS!" a deep voice growled.

Julian realized he was about to fight Sabretooth. Another person he'd encountered in the danger room, this time as a boss. Level ten? Level fifteen? More like, if this was a video game, he would be so many levels above him that the number would be replaced by a red skull.

And there were five of him.

"This is going to _suck!_ " Josh gasped.

* * *

"RRRAWWWGGHHHH!" Sabretooth 4 had his humongous tree trunk of an arm wrapped around Julian's neck, and Sabretooth 2 was trying to rip his leg off. Arclight 6 was about to punch him in the face, and Harpoon 1 had just hurled a charged spear—he was guessing a harpoon—at his torso. Then, there was Vertigo 7 or 3 messing with his nausea levels. The floor was already covered with vomit. Not that he could see it. The room was absolutely full of action: powers flashing, gun shots, yelling, screaming, blurs of motion. A red mist hung in the air around the area where he'd last seen Logan.

The only reason no one had been able to kill him yet was his shield. It clung to his skin and seemed to repel everything except Vertigo's nausea attacks. But he was finding it difficult to kill his opponents quickly enough. For every aneurysm he caused, for every hole he punched, for every burn, another clone took the place of the one he had killed. And the Sabretooths just wouldn't die, period. He was getting exhausted. His eyes began to slide shut.

"KELLER! GET ELIXIR—" Logan roared from somewhere.

Julian saw a flash of gold in between Domino and Arclight 2. He shook his head slightly. He needed to focus, or they were all dead. He reached up and grabbed the arms of the Sabretooth holding his neck, his hands glowing.

"AHHGH!" The clone let go, then let out a growl and charged.

With what felt like the last of his energy, Julian thought very hard about clearing the area around him. The thought came out as a force wave. He staggered over to Josh, and grabbed him by his shoulder, the other bloodied and obviously broken. "You got it?! You got the vial?!"

"Y-yeah—" Josh hissed, between clenched teeth. "I can't take this anymore…they keep attacking m-me and I heal but…but I think I'm gonna pass out…can you carry it for a while?" He was holding out the vial to him.

Julian knew there was no choice now. He had to do this. It didn't matter that he felt like he was going to pass out too. "Yeah." He reached out.

Then Sabretooth hit him from behind. The vial smashed against his palm.

 _Burn_. Ruth's voice whispered in his ear.

Julian's shield slipped over his skin.

Josh was staring at him. "What are you—"

But he wasn't listening. He was focusing very hard on the molecules around him. About making them move faster. As fast as they could. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. The air inside his shield was catching fire. Bonds were breaking. He caught a glimpse of his fingers. They were glowing, white hot. His skin, just above the edges of his metal hands, was…turning black? And then…and then…he wasn't sure.


	21. Chapter 21 - Connect the Dots

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews! I have responded to questions via PM. Here is the next installment, enjoy XD

* * *

CHAPTER 21

 _Connect the Dots_

* * *

Laura pushed herself up from the cement and wiped her eyes, sniffing the air reluctantly. She did not want to smell the blood, but otherwise the uncomfortable buzzing in her nose would go on. She had learned from experience that it might build into another, unplanned attack.

 _Snakt_ as her claws retreated. She began to crawl away, not trusting her limbs to support her just yet. She would need to soon, though. She did not want to give Kimura any excuses for a prolonged beating tonight. Because tonight was her monthly inspection, in which Harkins reviewed her performance logs and monitored her health for signs of adamantium poisoning or skeletal damage. He had been conducting these alone lately.

It was her one chance to speak with him.

Kimura had not made her move yet, but she would soon. She was moody. Often silent. Carrying more weapons of late. Whatever she was planning would happen soon. The facility soldiers were already loyal to her. It would not be difficult for her to seize power. Laura suspected no one would seek to take it back from her, as long as the money kept pouring in. The money _she_ made for the facility.

Harkins was not a good man. He did not deserve to live any more than Kimura did, than Rice had. But under his lead, there was always the chance that, someday in the future, she could escape with the other clones. Under Kimura's lead, that chance, that hope, did not exist.

Under Kimura's lead, Laura knew they would all die.

She was not certain whether her own life should continue after the facility was destroyed. There were times that she felt it should, as her clones would need guidance after they escaped. And there were times that she felt it should not. Usually, these times occurred in the minutes between waking and sleeping, when she was gazing into the darkness, her claws slicing through her flesh, her mind replaying that night in the snow. When she had killed Julian.

She was still not quite able to believe it had happened. This confused her. She had _seen_ him die, she had heard his heartbeat fade, watched his skin turn blue, yet she could not quite believe she would never see him again. But there were moments that she _did_ believe it. And it was those moments that she was certain that she should be destroyed with the facility. She had proved, for once and for all, without a shadow of doubt, that there was _no one_ she would not kill. She should not exist.

For now, however, she had purpose. She needed to make sure the clones were given a chance. Only those that had failed the anti-empathy training and testing, of course. She knew of three so far. She had overheard Harkins murmuring about a "bad batch" among the sixty series: three clones that had been "contaminated." Apparently, a janitor on their cell block had failed to observe protocol, and had treated them as he would children. While the interactions could not have been nearly as influential as Sarah's visits had been to her, these clones had still been exposed to the idea that they could be more than weapons.

She intended to give _all_ of the clones the opportunity to follow her out, if they promised to obey her. Realistically, however, she knew these three would be most likely to be receptive. And to have a future. More of a future than herself, even. As far as she knew, they had no trigger scent programming. Rice had not deemed it necessary, since human contamination had not been an anticipated issue.

She was uncertain about the clones who had not failed the anti-empathy training. The ones who did not obey her. There was no place for them in the world outside. They would just end up being someone else's weapons. They would just end up being _her_ , and one of her was already too much. Should she kill them? The thought caused her distress, but so did the idea of setting them free in the world.

Footsteps were heading her way. Booted feet. She forced herself to stand, shaking her head to clear it.

"X-23." Kimura's tone was sour. She was looking for something to fault her on.

Laura waited.

Her handler folded her arms. "You took two minutes longer than expected."

She still had five minutes left on her watch, but she said nothing, just bowed her head. The blow was sharp and made her ears ring for a moment, but she did not cry out. She knew Kimura would grow bored and most likely stop, since the inspection was soon. Harkins would be annoyed if he had to wait for her to heal.

"Stupid clone." Kimura shook her head, then applied the control cuffs, yanking her arms roughly behind her back and tightening them more than necessary. But she was surprisingly silent after that, as she dragged Laura to the helicopter and loaded her up.

Laura felt a wave of uneasiness. Kimura was up to something. What?

* * *

"Has it been a month already?" Harkins asked as he entered the examination room. He picked up the folder from the wall pocket and walked toward her, adjusting his glasses as he began to flip through it, looking briefly at her mission summary reports.

"Yes." Laura paused, waiting for the door to swing shut behind him. It was taking a long time.

Harkins flipped another page.

 _Click!_

Laura leaned forward, as much as she could with her arms secured behind her back. "Kimura is planning to kill you."

Harkins raised an eyebrow, but did not look at her. "Is that so?" _Flip._

"Yes." Laura hesitated. "Please. You must believe me."

"There is nothing I 'must' do, X-23." Harkins's voice was sharp. _Flip!_

Laura had anticipated this. Harkins was clever. He could see how this could be a tactical strategy on her part. To divide her captors and turn them against each other. "I do not say this out of concern for your wellbeing." She paused. "I am concerned for mine."

Harkins did not look at her, but he did pause his flipping.

"Under Kimura…" she closed her eyes. "I will be destroyed, as will my clones. She is insane."

"The management of the facility is none of your concern, X-23." Harkins glared at her. "Be quiet, or I'll have you muzzled."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "Please—"

Her nose prickled.

* * *

Wet. Gurgling. _Blood._

She tilted her head. Lighter patches. The trigger impulse was clearing. Soon she would be able to see again. Think again. There was something familiar about the blood. She could not yet place it, but she knew it was familiar.

And that familiar meant bad.

She blinked. There was lot of metal. And dark fluid. Everything was still blurry. Everything was still too far away. But she was getting closer. Like she was travelling through a tunnel, and had nearly reached the end. She blinked again.

She was crouching, on all fours, on the steel floor, her claws still extended. _Snakt!_ On the floor in front of her, blood. Deep, dark blood. The kind that meant death. _Snff._ Yes, she smelled death.

And she smelled something else. Someone else. "No." Her eyes widened, and she looked all around her. Then she spotted Harkins, lying face down on the floor, in a crimson puddle. The folder was splayed open beside him, the files scattered. His glasses were shattered.

Her eyes widened. "No!" she gasped, as she scrambled toward him. But it was too late. His heartbeat was fading, and with it, her only chance of helping her clones to escape. Of preventing Kimura from wreaking havoc.

She noticed her hand shields, laying on the floor, twisted and cut off. They were not made of adamantium. Fakes. Fake cuffs, fake hand shields.

 _Clap, clap, clap._

Laura looked up.

Kimura was leaning on the doorframe, applauding slowly. Grinning. Then she stopped, and her expression grew serious. "You honestly think I didn't _know_ what you were planning?"

Laura felt tired. Defeated. She looked down, her eyes burning.

Kimura leaned down. "Welcome to the new order, clone." She kicked her in the stomach. "Things are going to be a lot _different_ here, from now on."

Laura's eyes slid shut.

* * *

"…Laura…" His voice was muffled.

Why was it muffled? Oh, his face was pressed into his pillow. He raised his head and blinked sleepily. He was lying in his bed, his room dark, but light streaming gently through the blinds, suggesting it was daytime.

He rolled out of bed, set his feet on the floor, and tried to get up. His legs buckled and he fell to the ground in a pile of blankets. "Fuck." He sat on the floor for a moment, then began to push himself up. His metal fingers hit something under the bed. Oh, yeah. Laura's backpack. With the book he'd never read. He'd have to do that. After he figured out what the hell was going on.

After a few moments he managed to haul himself to his feet again, and this time, his legs held. There was one way to get an instant answer about how long he'd been out. He stumbled to the bathroom, flipped on the lights, and was confronted with about a week's worth of beard. "Shit." He leaned on the bathroom counter and rubbed his glowing fingers over his skin, then watching as the shavings fell into the sink.

Skin. That was the last thing he'd been aware of. His skin turning black, under his shield. Josh must have healed him. Which meant Josh had been alive to do so. And so he must have succeeded in destroying the virus with what he'd done. Burning it. He closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose. _Thank fucking god._

After using the bathroom, he returned to the bed and hauled out the backpack from under it, his features fixed. He'd done what Logan had asked. They had recovered the stolen vial, and he highly doubted Vanisher was going to steal any more samples. The world was safe from the Legacy virus. Which meant…he was done, for a while at least. Just like James, he was going to focus on his own problems. Of which he really only had one.

He unzipped the pack. A few moments later and he was holding the book, running his metal fingers over the edges of the pages. There was a dog-eared one. But it was plastered to the next page by all the dried blood.

He closed his eyes and tried to think small. About pulling the particles apart. The book opened, so suddenly that he almost dropped it. He spread it open carefully, smoothing out the pages. It was washed with red too, but he could just make out the ornate lettering of the title, and part of an illustration of a puppet with a long nose. _Pinocchio._

He raised his eyebrows, surprised. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but it certainly hadn't been that. Then he noticed a small, thin bundle of note paper, folded and stuck between the pages. Unlike the rest of the book, this paper was mostly clean. Inserted after the blood had dried. He picked it up and straightened it out carefully, then began to read.

 _Please forgive me._

His eyebrows drew together, and he gripped the letter a little harder, making the paper crackle.

 _Even as I write the words, they ring so hollow. My mistakes, my choices, they cannot be undone, much less forgiven. But you deserve this confession._

The writer spoke about becoming part of the experiment. He paused, realizing the author must be Laura's creator.

 _I asked you for forgiveness before. Now I'm telling you. Don't forgive me. Don't forgive any of us for what we did. Ever._

 _You deserve to know why we did these things. Why we made you, and tried so hard to break you. Your training was designed to strip you of your humanity. You were a weapon. A weapon I willingly conceived for them. Our orders were to keep you from gaining any sense of self. Something they said would compromise our ability to control you. Use you. We were never to treat you as a child, only as a weapon. Something we could turn off when we didn't need it._

 _From day one, you were on a schedule. Your healing factor was activated with radiation poisoning, at levels so high they would have instantly killed a grown man, let alone a five-year-old child. Your claws were ripped out of your body without anesthetics, for the adamantium process. We were in a hurry to assemble you. So that we could kill. So that we could make the world a better place. A place that would be safe for our_ real _children._

 _Except it wasn't about that. It was about greed. That's what this is all about. Of course it is. The buying and selling of lives for profit. Not saving the world. Not one evil for the greater good. No, this is about money. A lot of it. Sutter sold you for a million dollars a pound. As you know by now, there was no shortage of buyers._

 _I watched while you were forced to kill. And kill. And kill. And kill. You killed royalty. Godfathers. Drug lords. Dictators. Assassins. Anyone. Everyone. For a price. For three long years, you murdered without fail. They need only tell you to do it, and you did it. But that wasn't enough for them. They had to make sure that you would never have a choice. Kimura was the one who waterboarded you with a smile on her face. Who held your head down as you drowned in the fluid that would become your trigger scent. They say drowning is one of the most terrible ways to die. You drowned every night for two years._

 _I didn't know Sutter was having me design the treatment process for her skin. I thought it was for yours. So I made her unbreakable. Flawlessly unbreakable. Even then, so early on, he was planning this. All of this. I thought Rice was the sick one, but at least he was motivated by anger. Sutter by greed. I by curiosity. Kimura by nothing but the sound of your screams. The smell of your blood. The look of your fear. Her motivation is nameless. Cruelty for the sake of cruelty. I didn't believe in the devil before I met her. By the time I had, it was too late._

 _They say in life that we are judged by the choices we make. They are what define us. I chose to bring you into this world. I chose to stay in the program. To witness true evil. To participate. I'm responsible for everything that has happened. For all the pain, for all the death, for everything you've suffered. Because I had a choice, and you had none. And I chose to do nothing. I always assumed it was Rice that cut you. I never wanted to believe that it was you. That you had learned to hurt yourself, too. The damage I've done…I can never forgive myself._

 _You showed me that we can choose to be something other than what we have forced to be. That we can be something better than what we believe we are. Something better. And, in that moment, you saved my life. All that matters now is that I save yours. I wish we could just run away. No more blood. But if we don't stop them, they will never stop. They will hunt us down. And they will do it all over again. They've already started. This is my choice, to do something this time. To be better than what I believe I am._

 _But I promise, after this, no more. The killing stops tonight. We'll start a new life. Have a future. Be a family. We'll learn to be human together. I'll let you show me how._

 _I'm sorry I waited so long to tell you these things. There is so much more that I want to tell you. And I will. But one thing you must always remember. No matter what has happened, and no matter what may come, you are a child, not a weapon. You are my child. You are my daughter…and I love you. I will always love you, Laura._

 _Your mother,_

 _Sarah_

Julian ran his metal fingers over the bloodstained page again. He knew whose blood that was. His eyes took in the dog-eared corner again. The title. _Pinocchio._ Something Sarah must have read to Laura. The story about a puppet becoming real.

He folded the letter and replaced it between the pages, then closed the book softly.

 _Because I had a choice, and you had none._

Why did that seem so familiar? He closed his eyes. _You told me that bad people have her, and it was your fault._ James had told him this.

 _NO! Laura, don't! There's another way. You can't do this! Not for_ me _!_ His own voice. He'd said this, to her. Or wanted to. At some point. When?

What the hell was he missing? Reading this letter had helped him understand the facility. It had told him where Laura came from, and what she'd been through. But it hadn't made him remember _her._ He gritted his teeth. He was _so close_. It was as if he had all the pieces, but couldn't put them together. Something in his head was resisting. Refusing to make those connections.

He shoved the book back in the bag and zipped it back up. After pausing briefly to throw on his sweats, he headed down to the kitchen to take care of the burning pit of hunger that was his stomach, his head swimming with all the puzzle pieces.

"JULIAN!"

 _THWAP!_ As Cessily hurled her arms around him from a distance, like some kind of long range attack. "Holy fu—" he yelped, but she was squeezing the air out of him again and babbling a bunch of stuff he couldn't comprehend because she was saying it too quickly. "Dude, I think he needs to breathe!" Santo's voice.

"Oh, right." Cessily loosened her grasp.

Julian shoved her away with a glare. "You _really_ need to stop doing that, Cess! Otherwise I'm not going to be happy to see you anymore."

"Sorry." She beamed. "I was just—we were so worried about you! Josh told us what you did, and—"

"What?" Julian stared at her. "Josh shouldn't be talking about that shit!"

"Come on, dude, it's _us!_ " Santo grinned. "You're mad that we wanna celebrate you bein' a real, honest-to-god _hero?"_ He paused. "I mean, this is the kind of stuff you used to talk about _all_ the time."

Julian gritted his teeth, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. "Don't remind me!" he snapped. The air around him was getting hot.

His friends traded confused looks.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. _They don't get it. They don't understand._ He forced himself to relax, opening his hands and flexing them. "Look. I…things are different now. The kind of things we do…I can't talk about it. And Josh shouldn't." He paused. "But I'm not a hero. That shit just doesn't exist in real life."

Cessily's eyebrows drew together. "Oh, Julian—" her thoughts were full of concern. She thought he was having some kind of breakdown.

"Don't." His forehead wrinkled. "I've got my head on straight. _Now._ "

"Whaddaya mean?" Santo asked, confused.

Julian thought for a moment. How could he possibly describe watching himself be an asshole in the past, without spilling the beans on Dr. McCoy's time travel devices? "I've done some…retrospection." He paused. "I made a lot of mistakes. I'm trying to be a better person now. Which means…I'm not going to stop and pat myself on the back for not letting my friends die, you know?" Pause. "Not when I should be figuring out how to stop the next thing."

"What's the next thing?" Santo asked.

Julian hesitated.

"You're going after Laura!" Cessily blurted, her eyes widening.

"Dude." Santo stared at him. "Where're we going?"

"No—" Julian began.

" _Yes!_ " Cessily leaned forward. "We were there too, Julian! I want to _help._ You can't do it alone."

"Yeah!" Santo folded his arms. "We're handy! An' we _all_ want X back."

"It's not that straight forward." Julian paused. "I, uh, still don't remember her."

"…" Cessily raised a red eyebrow. "You _seriously_ need to explain what the hell is going on with you. The whole story, not just a little piece of it."

Julian folded his arms too. "I told you—"

A small, quiet voice interrupted him. "Excuse me, please."

They all turned to see Blindfold, gazing up at them, with her eyeless stare.

Santo grinned. "Hey, look! It's crazy cat lady!"

"Oh my _god_ Santo!" Cessily glared at him. "You—"

Julian held up a metal hand. "Ruth. That wasn't _hours_. It's been a week."

Cessily and Santo stared at him now.

Ruth sniffed. "Has it?"

Julian could sense her meaning. He'd been asleep for most of the week. "Er, no, guess not." He paused. "So…you're going to help me?"

She pursed her lips. "Hmmm. Thank you, yes. You are a broken spiderweb. Excuse me, unsolved map. Yes. Connect the dots, please, to find X. Picture perfect."

"The hell does _that_ mean?" Santo sounded offended. "Jules ain't a—"

"Shut up." Julian frowned. "But…uh…yeah, what do you mean?"

Ruth tapped her chin with her finger, then turned around abruptly and marched up the staircase, as if to fetch something. Mystified, Julian followed her, Santo and Cessily close behind. All wore identical looks of confusion. She led them to Pixie's door.

Pixie answered on the third knock. "Oh, hi Ruth!" she said, her tone full of surprise. She fluttered her big pink wings as she leaned out of her room to eye the approaching group. "And…uh…Julian? Santo…Cessily…what's up?"

Ruth's eyebrows drew together. "Your phone."

Pixie stared at her. "Uh… _what?"_

"We're kind of wondering that too." Cessily's tone was apologetic.

Julian closed his eyes. "Look, I know this is weird, but…I'm having some problems…remembering stuff, and Ruth is trying to help me. Apparently your phone is a part of that…so you mind humoring us for a minute and letting us look at it?" He found it odd that the one time Ruth was actually asking for something, she hadn't even slipped in a single "please." That was like her favorite word, wasn't it?

"Oh! Totes!" Pixie fished her phone out of her back pocket. "I'm basically the selfie queen, so now that you put it that way, it makes sense. I have like my entire experience at Xavier's on Instagram, like I documented everything, y'know? Kinda have to 'coz _no one_ around this place takes pictures, it's so weird 'coz a lot of us look really cute, well not like Quentin Quire or Santo or well Victor's kind of cute I guess—"

"Hey!" Santo folded his arms. "What the hell are you sayin'? I'm like the cutest guy here!" Pause. "Sorry, Jules, but it's true."

Julian rubbed his face with his metal hands. "Pixie. For fuck's sakes, please just hand the phone over."

Pixie's eyes bulged. "No need to be rude about it! You can all just bugger off if you're going to be asses—"

"He's sorry!" Cessily interrupted, stretching her arm back to slap her hand across Julian's mouth, silencing him as he was about to say he wasn't. "Just…we're in a hurry, Megan. We're hoping to find someone in those pictures. You don't delete any, do you?"

"Nah, as long as they're not blacked out or blurry or anything, I keep them!" Pixie beamed as she handed the phone over to Cessily. "I have over ten thousand by now, maybe a wee bit more. I keep getting iCloud warnings but I figure I'll just get another phone when I max out. I'm on the highest plan already."

"What picture you lookin' for?" Santo asked.

"Remember that date we forced Julian and Laura on?" she asked as she started to thumb through the photo albums.

Julian's eyebrows drew together. "…you _forced_ us on a _date?!_ "

Cessily raised her hand. "Not now, Julian! The important part is me and Laura were all gussied up and Megan came and took a picture with us. I think Ruth wants us to find that picture."

Ruth nodded. "Excuse me, please, yes." She paused. "Thank you."

Julian folded his arms. "Not like ten thousand photos is going to take a while to search through or anything."

"I'm searching by month and year, stupid." Cessily paused. "That leaves only…yup, here it is." She handed the phone over to Julian.

His eyebrows drew together and he took it, then stared at the picture. There were three girls. Pixie was holding up above their heads. On one side was Cessily, who was wincing and trying to block the photo out. On the other was a girl, with dark hair, and green eyes that gazed mistrustfully upward at the camera. Laura. He stared at her. Santo hadn't been exaggerating. She _was_ a fifteen. _His_ fifteen, at least. She was wearing a white button-down shirt, and what looked like a plaid skirt. He could just see her fingers. The nails were painted black. His eyes were burning. And his throat. _Mmmm mmmm!_

The expression on her face. He had watched people die before…but he'd never watched someone just choose to _stop living._ Her fingers slid down the glass. _I am ready._

 _We'll tell you when you're ready._

He almost dropped the phone. "What the fuck?!"

Everyone was staring at him now.

"Uh, sorry." He shook his head, which was starting to hurt. "It's…I'm remembering something…but…"

"Ah. Yes." Ruth nodded again. "Excuse me, this is going to hurt. Please wait."

She reached out and touched his forehead, like she had in the hallway, in the past.

"Ugghhn!" Julian gritted his teeth. _CRUNCH!_

"My phone!" Pixie squealed.

"Uh—" Julian shoved the crushed device back into her hands. "Um, I'll buy you a new one, but I—uh—I need to go—" he backed away, his heart beating in his ears. He turned and started running down the hallway, not sure where he was going, but sensing that he'd figure it out when he got there. Oh, right. Cerebra. He was running toward Cerebra, because he was going to scan every brain in the fucking universe until he found Laura's. He could do that now. Because he'd know her anywhere. He had a _lot_ of lost time to make up for.

"Hey—Julian!"

He paused for a moment. James was standing at the door, duffle bag slung over his shoulder. Beside him stood a strange looking woman, with grey skin, and a long, furry tail.

"Hi." Julian paused. "You're back."

"Yep." James gestured to his companion. "This is Hepzibah."

"Nice to meet you." Julian grimaced. "I gotta run…but we'll catch up, okay?" He spun around, then remembered he could fly and was shooting toward the elevator a moment later, his eyebrows drawn together. When was the last time he'd seen her? Red eyes. Claws. He flinched. The attack. Laura must think he was dead.

He was finally at the doors to Cerebra.

They parted, and Frost was standing there, with folded arms. "Hello, Mr. Keller."

Julian paused, gazing at his old advisor. He hadn't seen her for a long, long time. For good reason. He couldn't remember why before, but now he did. He thought that she hadn't actually looked for Laura after she had been taken by the facility. Whatever reasons she had, he'd hated her for it.

What about now?

Frost raised an eyebrow. "You are using your telepathy, these days." She paused. "The Cuckoos?" Her voice was stiff.

"They helped." Julian realized he needed to be careful. Summers had wanted them to stay away from Frost, as much as possible. She didn't know what he was having Logan and the others do. She wouldn't approve. "I'm going to find Laura now."

"I see." Frost paused. "Well. Don't let _me_ stand in your way." She gestured towards Cerebra. "Go see for yourself."

Julian brushed past her, approaching the chair, his heart thumping. A few moments, and he would know where Laura was. Finally. After over two years of searching. He sat down and lowered the helmet onto his head, digging into all the memories the Cuckoos had loaded into his head for instructions on how to use the machine.

At first, there wasn't much change. Just a greater awareness of who was around him. Before he'd only been able to sense Frost in the room near him. Now, he could still sense her, but also a group of people heading down the first-floor staircase. His friends, who were trying to figure out where he'd gone. And James and Hepzibah, who was an _alien_ , in the elevator. The Cuckoos in the library (Mindee waved at him mentally), Quentin Quire in the kitchen (he flashed him the finger), Victor reading in his room, Nori returning to the school from a shopping trip—Julian bit his lip and started searching outside of the school. _Come on…Laura…where are you?_ He flitted through strange mutant minds, faster and faster, knowing the moment that he glanced into them that they weren't what he was looking for. Soon, he didn't even have to _look._

After a while, he took the helmet off, and stared at the blank screens on the walls of the chamber, his eyebrows drawn together. "You weren't lying."

"Of course not." Frost's heels clicked on the metal floor of the walkway as she headed toward him. "I am offended you would think that little of me."

Julian gazed down at his metal hands. "Yeah, well…" he closed his eyes. "Why can't I find her?"

"There is a metal called Vibranium. It is quite rare." Frost paused. "It absorbs energy signatures…including psionic energy, both telepathy and telekinesis. I believe you have encountered it before."

Julian put the helmet back on the control panel. "They have her shielded with that stuff somehow, don't they?"

"Probably." Frost sighed. "The only way to find locate her will be the old-fashioned way, I'm afraid. I have tried…all these years. But our resources have become tight of late."

"Yeah." Julian paused. "Wait a minute. _How_ have you been trying?"

She frowned. "Investigators, pet. I hired the best. Six of them."

"Don't call me that." He wrinkled his nose. "We need to put out a hit on a target."

"…" Frost paused. "Excuse me?"

"We've all been doing this the wrong way." Julian stood up. "We've been looking and looking for Laura…but we need to make her come to _us._ "

Frost raised an eyebrow. "And how do you propose to do that?"

Julian realized that she didn't know as much about Laura as he did. She hadn't seen the letter. "The facility's money-for-murder. They force Laura to kill for them." He paused. "So we make a job...advertise it in the right places…then wait for them to contact."

Frost's forehead wrinkled. "Perhaps." She paused. "You have been spending time with Logan, correct?"

Julian paused too. He could sense she was about to start asking questions. Maybe poking around in his head. Testing his shields. "A bit. So, can you loan me some money?"

She raised her eyebrows. "I will make arrangements. But I would prefer you would not be involved. Allow Logan and—"

"I'm _going_ to be there." Julian's voice was firm. "Just set it up and let me know when and where." He headed toward the door, then paused. "Sorry I doubted you."

"I am sorry there was room for doubt." Frost paused. "I hope you will learn to trust me again."

"Anything can happen." Julian stepped into the hall. He reached the elevator just as the doors opened to reveal Santo and Cessily.

"We looked _everywhere!_ What are you doing down here?!" The latter demanded.

"Cerebra." Julian paused. "I couldn't find her, but Frost says—"

"Whoa, whoa." Santo gave him a strange look. "Dude, _you_ couldn't find her?"

Julian frowned. He'd forgotten that he hadn't told them about that little detail. He reached up and rubbed his neck. "I, uh, I'm kind of…a telepath now."

His friends stared at him.

"Wh- _what?!"_ Cessily gaped at him. _Holy shit, what have I let slip while we've been—_

 _Crap! He probably knows I—_

 _—_ _and that we—_

 _—_ _DAMMIT I—_

 _—_ _oh my GOD and that time—_

 _—_ _MAYBE IF I JUST THINK ABOUT FOOD A LOT—_

"Arrrgh!" Julian grabbed his head. "See, this is why I didn't tell you guys! Stop!"

"You just casually told us you've been reading our minds!" Cessily squealed.

"Dude, you're like _Frost_ now!" Santo sounded outraged.

"Holy fuck!" Julian glared at them. "I have _not_ been reading your minds! I only hear things when you overreact and _scream_ _them at me!_ And I'm not—" he paused, his forehead wrinkling. Wasn't this the same kind of thing he'd just realized he had accused Frost of doing? Assuming that just because she _could_ alter minds and be deceptive, she _would?_ He closed his eyes. "Look, I was wrong about Frost too. She…she actually did look for Laura. But she doesn't show up because of this stupid shielding thing the facility is doing."

Cessily paused, raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah." Julian frowned. "I have an idea…and Frost is going to help with it." He paused. "We should get everyone together, so I don't have to explain this a million times."

"Yeah, but you _are_ going to fill us in on all this stuff we're behind on with _you,_ right?" Santo eyed him, then his hands. "Coz I feel like I'm a season behind on whatever your show is called."

Julian rolled his eyes, then sighed. "What I can."


	22. Chapter 22 - Keep Hell Warm for Me

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews! I believe I responded to everyone via PM. Sorry it's been a little while, I have been writing at this but I wanted to work through a few chapters first, to make sure my plot was solid and take care of a couple details. On the plus side, it's over 7.8k words long (standard is around 5k) so it is like a double update. Hope you all enjoy, thanks for reading!

* * *

CHAPTER 22

 _Keep Hell Warm for Me_

* * *

TWO MONTHS LATER

 _CLANG!_ as the adamantium vertebrae parted.

Julian froze, his eyes widening slightly. His metal hand was wrapped around Logan's limp neck, the glow from the fingers of his other hand fading. Laura had been right. It was easy to take him down. He had just needed to figure out where to apply the forces. Getting close to him had been the hardest part. His shield deflected the adamantium claws fine, his skin not even scratched by the repeated attempts to chop his head off. It was his instinctive reflexes that were the problem. Learning not to just shut down when Logan charged at him with those same claws that Laura had used to carve him up. To butcher him. But he'd done it. Weapon X was dead in his hands.

 _Practicing, Mr. Keller?_

"Computer end program." The holograms faded around him. _Something like that._ He had been practicing a lot lately, running both solo and group programs with the safety controls off, and had been surprised at the fights he could withstand: Ms. Marvel, Beast, even Rogue. Weapon X had eluded him until now. He had ventured the Magneto program once, but having to mentally beg Josh, who had been in the middle of a date that was going well, to come scrape him off the floor had been a little too humiliating. He still wasn't sure how he had failed to piece together that Magneto would have an insane advantage over his metal hands. He tried not to think about it too much. All the same, when the Phoenix program popped up on his suggested list, he skipped it.

All the same, the practice had made him feel confident he could take on Kimura—and win. Even if Laura was triggered. The biggest challenge would be keeping his focus and not panicking when he saw her claws. But he thought he should be okay, since he could now handle Logan's without flinching too much.

 _I have received a phone call. From my broker._

Julian's eyes widened. "What? _Really?_ " he blurted out loud.

So far, today had felt like any other day. Wake up, eat, head to the Danger Room, then shower and hit the streets for another session of fruitless searching. He visited the King Pin daily. He'd found that he couldn't affect the man's actions in the slightest, but he had been able to mask his presence, and resigned himself to standing in a corner while listening to the latest regional crime news. None of which was relevant to him, so these visits didn't last long. Then he was off, searching in a new direction each day. Sometimes, just walking down the street, forcing himself to comb through passing minds. Or he'd take the X-Wing if it was in the hangar, and fly to a randomly chosen location. Sometimes Europe.

Overall, there had been nothing special to suggest that this might be the day.

 _Please visit my office when you are finished with your…practice._

Julian wondered if she had seen what he was doing. He had been focused. It was possible his shields had been down. _I'll be there in fifteen._

* * *

"Please close it." Frost's voice was flat.

Julian gave the door a shove as he passed by. _CRACK!_ His forehead wrinkled and he glanced back at it, only to see a huge split in the wood."Fuck!"

Frost's eye twitched. "That…that is quite alright."

He paused, then headed back to the structure and ran his metal fingers over the gap, concentrating on what the structure of the wood atoms might look like. A moment later, the split had disappeared. "There. Good as new."

"Thank you." She gestured to the chair in front of her desk. "Please have a seat."

He could sense that she wanted to add the word 'gently,' and he rolled his eyes, but did as asked. "So. The broker called."

"Indeed." Frost leaned over her desk. "There has been an offer." She paused. "For two million dollars, guaranteed death. For twenty million, they will…deliver proof."

He leaned forward. " _Who_ delivers it?"

"They did not describe their…methods." Frost wrinkled her nose. "However…there was mention that the entire…affair…would be accomplished in under twenty three minutes."

Julian's eyebrows drew together. "Laura's codename is X-23."

"Yes."

They were both silent for a moment, then he leaned forward. "The latter option—"

"I am _not_ paying twenty million dollars to have a severed head brought into my office." Frost paused. "I have, however, wired two million to the account specified. The…arrangement will take place tonight."

Julian stared at her. "You know where Laura's going to be tonight."

"Probably." Frost paused. "There are two conditions." She held up a finger. "Number one is that you will _not_ go alone."

"…" He closed his eyes. "I wasn't going to, but sure." Cessily and Santo had made it clear that they wanted to help him, tagging along on a fair amount of his recent excursions, and even to a few of his less lethal Danger Room sessions.

Which meant that they asked many, many questions. He had told them an abridged and heavily modified version of what he had been doing for the past two years, avoiding direct references to the team's activities, but mentioning people they had "fought" and the circumstances they had sought to avoid, like the rerelease of the Legacy virus.

Cessily had demanded an explanation about what he meant that one night at the restaurant, when he mentioned that Laura had killed him. He hadn't seen any point to lie about this topic, and so he had gone into detail about trigger scent and his being saved by 'someone,' leaving Warren out of it so they would not ask him questions. He still remembered nothing, and Julian saw no reason to rattle his memory and risk reminding him about the time he had been a metal-winged god of death or whatever was lurking under his angelic facade.

Now, Frost nodded slowly at him. "Excellent ."

He folded his arms. "What's the other condition?"

Frost hesitated, leaned her elbows on the desk and clasped her fingers together. "I feel there is a great deal you are not telling me about your…absence…for the past few years." She paused, her eyebrows drawing together. "I would like to start with knowing what happened to your hands."

Julian shook his head. "No."

She frowned. "I thought—I thought we had moved past this. That you understood I did not lie to you about the searches."

"This isn't about whatever I thought you did to _me_." Julian leaned forward in his seat. "I know what you did to _Laura_. When she was here. How you messed with her." He glared at her. "I was the one who got Logan that one time, you know. When you made Laura flip out and think she was fighting…someone from her past."

He had thought about that incident a lot while he had been waiting these past months. As he reevaluated his anger toward Frost. Walking a mile in her shoes, having some people fear and mistrust him because he could read their thoughts if he wanted to, had made this a very important question. That was when he had realized it was _because_ of telepaths like her that people feared and mistrusted _him_. It was why he was so reluctant to use his telepathy. She had shown him the kind of damage that could be caused with it.

Frost had made Laura see Kimura that day. He knew there was no one else in the world that she would have fought with such desperation. And that meant Frost had fished in her head. For a way to torture her. He had a hunch there had been other times too. Her coldness toward Laura had started the moment she'd first seen her, in the Danger Room. When Frost had asked him to take her down.

He glared at her. "So, no. We haven't 'moved past this.'"

Frost paused. "You must understand that I took you and the others under my wing. I felt responsible for your wellbeing. And when X-23—Laura—came, during a time in which I already feared for your lives—"

"You should've taken her 'under your wing,' too." Julian closed his eyes. "She needed it. More than me. More than any of us. And you just treated her like…like she wasn't even a person." He looked at her again, his lip curling. "I might not actively hate you anymore. But I'm not going to be anything more than civil. That's more than you deserve."

Frost gazed at him coolly. "Very well." Pause. "The agent…possibly Laura…will be at the docks, at nine o' clock tonight. I suggest you be punctual. Seeing as you seem to think I am heartless, I shall play the part and remind you that I have _two million dollars_ of vested interest in this matter, Mr. Keller. Please do not waste my money or my time." Her skin turned clear as she spoke.

The air around Julian began to shimmer with heat, but all he said was "Yep." Then he got up and headed out of her office, his thoughts already shifting to what he would need to do in preparation.

* * *

It was eight o' clock now. Julian drummed his metal fingers on the tin roof, trying not to let himself dwell on this fact too much. He couldn't fly out to the docks yet. If the facility smelled a set-up, they might not drop Laura off, and then all would be lost. Shit, he shouldn't have worn his uniform. They'd know there was backup the second they saw him. He closed his eyes, shook his head slightly. He had _one chance_ to get her back, and he didn't want to do anything that could screw it up.

He broke down and checked the clock on his phone again. 8:03. He gritted his teeth. Why couldn't it just be time already? He realized the air around him was beginning to swim with heat again, and forced himself to relax, taking deep breaths through his nose. His powers could be irritating now days. Before, the most he'd had to worry about was causing things to float. Now, he might start a fire without meaning to.

What was he going to say to Laura when he finally had the chance? After all the fighting was over? Later, when they were alone? His eyebrows drew together. What if she didn't feel the same way about him, as he did about her? He stiffened. Why _should_ she? After all, she had every right to hate him. He was the reason she had spent the last few years in hell. Worse than hell. His heart started pounding in his ears. He realized he was more scared by this thought than the fight ahead. The thought that she wouldn't want him too. "Stop it!" he snapped at himself out loud, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as he forced himself to relax again. Then he pushed off the roof and into the air. Maybe flying would be a good idea after all. Help him calm down. Some fresh air would do him good. He glided on the breeze for a while like a sheet of paper, trying to gather his thoughts.

Suddenly James was radioing him. The team was approaching in the X-wing. "Where am I parking this thing? They don't tow jets out here, right?"

Julian met them a little way down the dock. James and Josh were also in their grey and black outfits. Cessily, Santo, and Hepzibah were dressed a little more colorfully. He wondered if bringing them along was a mistake. What if they got hurt? What if Harkins managed to get them in a hostage situation again? He already knew who he would save, but it didn't make him feel good. Then Logan climbed out of the jet.

"Well, kid, have to hand it to you." He patted Julian on the shoulder. "Makin' _them_ come to _you._ Not bad."

Julian frowned. "Thought you'd be too busy."

Logan dug a cigar out of the pocket behind his badge. "Others are out doin' grunt work, so I told Summers I was takin' a personal day to witness a spectacle." He popped a claw with a _snikt_ and bent down low, then swiped his claws across the pavement, lighting his cigar with the spark. He rose again and grinned at him. "Weapon X gettin' outsmarted by a little shit like you? Hell, I'd _pay_ to see it."

Julian almost asked what grunt work the rest of the team was doing, but reminded himself just in time that Cessily and Santo were within earshot. He might have opened up about some of their past activities, but there was no way he was going to let them in on what was happening now. "Think this'll work?" he asked instead.

Logan shrugged. "Depends on how clever the fuckers running the joint are."

Julian thought of Harkins, and his expression darkened. "Plenty clever."

"Well, so are we." James shrugged. "Don't sweat too much. We have the advantage here." He patted the hilt of one of his blades. "We'll rescue Laura."

Beside him, Hepzibah flicked her tail, wrinkled her nose. "Is this her name, _Laura?_ Strange and unmelodic. Doesn't roll off the tongue properly."

"What are you talking about?" Cessily glared at her. "'Laura' is an _amazing_ name!"

"Yeah!" Santo folded his arms, with a deep grating rock noise.

Hepzibah flicked her tail again. "Not enough syllables. Less than three means you're a nobody. Is this nobody your _mate?_ " She was addressing Julian now, her eyebrows arched. "I am surprised you would choose someone unworthy."

"Er—" Julian glanced at James, his eyebrow raised.

James cleared his throat. "Uh, Hep, my name has one syllable…so I'm not sure what you're on about."

Hepzibah's nose wrinkled. "I pronounce it differently in my head."

"…" James shrugged. "Whatever."

Cessily gave Julian an anguished look, her eyes bulging slightly. _She was like that the_ whole _ride over! She is soooo weird!_ she thought at him, her tone full of whine. _She wanted to take some of my metal because she likes shiny things and has a "shiny box" where she puts them, I shit you not. And she actually asked James if he would mind if she, uh, went and uh, boinked Santo in the back seat because she was curious what a stone you-know-what feels like._

Julian coughed into his hand to conceal his sudden snort. He wanted to ask how Santo had responded, but he didn't think he could handle it without cracking up. And right now, he needed to focus. His forehead wrinkled. "Let's, uh, get a move on here."

* * *

A short while later, he was crouching on the rooftop of a nearby building, the address of which had been provided to the facility contact by Frost's broker. The plan was, he'd grab Laura, then the others would fight off whatever attack inevitably followed. When Kimura showed up, he'd trade her off to Logan and Cessily, just in case she was triggered. The two would be able to survive anything she could do without taking too much damage. Santo could too, but he'd risk losing more foundation rocks, and Julian figured that would be a bad thing. Also, he would probably be more useful on fighting off soldiers. James and Hepzibah would be fighting soldiers too, the latter apparently possessed of tactical powers, and some sort of claws.

And he, meanwhile, would be making sure that Kimura was obliterated from the face of the earth. He wasn't sure how he wanted to do it yet. What he did know was that he was going to make it count. He'd never hated someone so much in his life. Even Stryker didn't come close to this. He was going to make her pay for _everything._

Any moment now, Laura would walk or run down the alley below, and it would begin. He breathed in shakily, flexed his metal fingers. He needed to be ready to act in a split second. To grab her with his mind and pull her up here. All his focus was zeroed in on that corridor.

"…" A sharp intake of breath, behind him.

Julian's eyebrows drew together. He turned around, rose to his feet.

For a moment, he stared at Laura, who was staring at him, her mouth open.

His was, too. He pointed at the alleyway. "You're—you're supposed to—to—" he stopped, not sure what he was trying to say anymore, and just gazed at her.

She looked just as he remembered her. As she had in the picture. Flawless skin. Dark waves of hair floating in the slight breeze of the harbor. Bright green eyes that made something inside him ache. His eyes lingered on hers as he realized there was something different about them. She looked…tired? Bags. There were bags underneath her eyes. And her face was thinner. Come to think of it, she was thin all over. All the curves that he usually found so very distracting were…less pronounced.

"You are dead." She spoke. Her voice was as monotonous as he remembered it. Like everything she said was an unyielding fact. Also, feminine. Smooth. A little deeper than he remembered it…and…hollow? Her forehead was wrinkled. "I saw you die. I… _saw_ you. I—"

"I'm not dead." He took a deep, ragged breath. And then it started pouring out of him, like a dam breaking. "Fuck, Laura—I—I missed you _so_ much, you have no idea, I can't think about anything else…I—" his voice broke as he took a step in her direction. As he began to derail from his plans like a train flying off the tracks.

She took several steps back, her eyes widening. "Shield yourself." Her voice was firm.

He paused, closed his eyes. _Focus. Last chance. Don't fuck this up._ His hands formed fists, and his shield slipped over his skin. Then he looked at her again. "We're here for _you._ We're ready to fight." He paused. "You're coming home." He'd never heard his own voice sound so certain.

"I cannot leave the Facility." Laura's gaze lowered, her eyebrows drawing together now. "I need to remain there."

Julian stared at her. Here it was. The hole in his plan. He'd never considered what would happen if she didn't _want_ to leave the facility. "I'm not letting you go back." He paused. " _Ever._ Do you hear me?"

"Kimura is in charge now. She is at the Facility." Laura looked at him again. "There are…others. Like me. But children. Small children." Her voice was soft. Sad. "She will kill them if I do not return. All of them." She hesitated, as if she was going to say more, but did not.

His forehead wrinkled. He had so many questions, but the one that made it out was: "How is she in charge now?"

"She made me kill Harkins." Laura hesitated. "And has used me to secure her power."

Julian gritted his teeth, and the air around him grew hot. The roof began to smoke around him. "Mother _fucker."_ He kicked the surface with his boot, then ran his hands through his hair, trying to calm down before he started a fire. No wonder Laura looked thin. Tired.

 _Focus._ He couldn't even sense her on the rooftop, let alone read her thoughts. They must have done something to psi-proof her mind. Which meant once she left this rooftop, she would just slip out of his life again. Unless he figured out where they were keeping her. "Where's the facility?"

"I do not know." She paused. "I am transported in a container without windows."

He thought for a moment, then tore the red X-shaped badge off his chest. He pried it apart, concentrating on Dr. McCoy's memories in his head. After a moment, a small metal chip, the size of a grain of rice, floated into the air. The tracking microchip from his communication device. "Hold out your arm."

Laura hesitated.

He gave her a firm look. "Hold out your arm."

After a moment, Laura did as he had asked. The rice-chip slid into her skin, not even leaving blood in its wake. He ran a finger over the area, and made sure it felt smooth.

She exhaled shakily through her mouth, then closed her eyes and nodded at him. "When?"

"We'll be right behind you." He kept running his fingers over her skin, but he wasn't looking for the chip anymore. "Promise. We have a jet. Logan's here too. We won't leave without you this time." He blinked, hard, against the burning. "I never should have in the first place."

Laura opened her eyes slightly. "It was not your choice."

"It wasn't yours, either." He lifted his hand to her face, pressing his palm against her cheek. "I'm not going to stop until you _do_ have a choice, okay?"

She looked at him for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Okay."

"You need food." He paused. "Hang on. Let me get you something."

Laura shook her head.

Julian said nothing, but he gritted his teeth.

She reached up, wrapped her fingers around his wrist, and lowered his hand. "I must go now."

His eyebrows drew together, and he slipped his hand around so their fingers were laced together. "Okay. I'll—I'll see you then." His voice cracked. "Soon."

Laura's eyebrows drew together again. Then she gently slipped her hand out of his grasp, and was gone, dropping over the edge of the roof. He had to force himself not to run after her. Instead, he headed toward the X-wing, focusing his thoughts and wiping his eyes angrily on his sleeve.

 _Change of plan, guys. We're bringing the fight to them. Meet me at the jet._ He hoped he didn't sound as broken up as he felt.

* * *

"She must be underground." Julian was staring at the locator panel. They hadn't been far behind the facility's helicopter. Just far enough to stay off their radar with their stealth shields up. His GPS signal had been strong up until a few moments ago. Then it had suddenly stopped pinging. As if it had disappeared into thin air.

"Might be a teleporter." Logan paused. "Hope not. They could be anywhere then."

"Well, we happen to know a teleporter too." Josh paused. "We could—"

"No we don't." Logan glared at him. "The fuck would you say something like _that_ for, Elixir? You got brain damage or somethin'?"

"Oh come on." Josh gave him a flat look. "I just—"

"Why are you metallic-colored?" Hepzibah interrupted.

"I…what?" Josh gave her a strange look. "Why would you ask that right now?"

"I am bored and your conversation is contributing to my boredom." She folded her arms. "I am debating whether I should add you to my shiny box."

Cessily rubbed her hand over her face. "Oh gosh. Not the shiny box again."

"Can we just focus?" Julian suggested.

"On your stupid earth tech?" Hepzibah sighed, flicked her tail. "If I had _my_ ship, we would still have the signal. It must be frustrating to be so limited."

"Yeah, that's always our biggest problem." Josh grinned. "The stupid earth tech."

"I should probably explain." James frowned. "Hepzibah…isn't from around here. She's a Mephitisoid."

"Ain't that a kind of sandal?" Santo asked.

"What is a _sandal?"_ Hepzibah retorted, turning around to look at him, her nose wrinkled. "If that was an insult—"

"Only if you wear 'em with socks." Santo grinned.

"Guys." Now Julian rubbed his face with his metal hands. "If we could _concentrate._ "

Hepzibah looked at his hands. "Can I add _those_ to my shiny box?"

"No!" Cessily sounded exasperated. "You cannot add _anyone_ to your shiny box! Just stop asking already!" She looked at James, in the cockpit. "Please, for the love of god, _control your alien_."

"I am _not_ —" Hepzibah began.

James cleared his throat. "Hep, I'll explain later, okay? Just…let's not keep bugging people for body parts right now, okay?"

"…" Hepzibah rolled her eyes and flicked her tail. "Fine. _Whatever._ "

"Land the jet a few miles out and we'll walk back." Logan paused. "They probably got radar."

James nodded.

Julian turned and headed toward the door. "You guys do that. I'm going to scout it out a bit. Find out where the door is."

"Be careful, kid." Logan frowned. "Don't want us havin' to save your ass too."

"Definitely not." Julian paused. "I'd probably die of old age before that happened."

"Aging." Hepzibah shook her head. "That is _so_ twelfth-world. How do you even function? I had an Oxymodulator treatment as soon as I reached maturity."

"It's not so bad if you don't know anythin' else." Santo grinned. "But yeah, Jules, have fun agin'. You an' James are like the only ones here who have to go through that."

"Nope." James grinned. "I have a healing factor."

"…" Julian shook his head, pressed the door button and dropped toward the ground. Even though he had been irritated a moment ago, it melted away when he realized how close he might be to where Laura was being kept. How close he was to freeing her.

Five minutes later, he'd flown a complete circuit of the area, which turned out to be a snow-covered clearing. The surface was pristine, without even a footprint to indicate something might be hidden below. He finally touched down, in case the detail was too subtle to be seen from the air, but still there was nothing. Frustrated, he kicked the ground.

No cloud of snow rose.

Raising his eyebrows, he took a few steps, and noted that there was no crunching noise of powder beneath his feet. Instead, there was a tapping noise. Like he was walking on metal. A hologram? He stretched out his hand. The image flickered as the air molecules began to move faster, interrupting the light wave frequency. He caught a glimpse of a big, round metal door. Similar to the door he'd pulled open, in the New York facility, over two years ago. The door Laura had never come out of.

He made a fist, and with a loud grating noise, the door rose into the air. He flicked his hand to the side, and the big round of steel tilted and rolled away. Then he looked down into the space he had revealed. Everything was dark, except for a tiny pinprick of light in the distance. The facility was a long, long way down. But it was there. Laura was there. _He_ was there. His eyebrows drew together. _Guys_ —

There was a small clicking sound behind him. Julian froze, then looked over his shoulder.

Kimura, holding a rocket launcher, one eye closed, the other gazing at him down the scope as she squeezed the trigger. His shield began to spread across his skin.

 _BOOOM!_

* * *

"...transverse…dismantle…natural suture lines…" someone was murmuring, nearby. Overhead?

"...ose repeat? Another five?"

"Shouldn't be necessary. We've got it strapped down, and once we've got the skull popped open and sever nerves, movement is unlikely."

Julian's eyes opened slowly. And closed immediately. The lights were bright, shining directly into his pupils. There were metal cuffs around his ankles, and there was something around his head. Metal. He could feel it against his skin, burning slightly, interrupting his attempts to reach outside his mind. He couldn't sense anything around him. _Vibranium._

Something was in his mouth, too. A gag. He bit down on it, thinking. There had to be a way out of this. He tried his arms. They were strapped down, too, a metal cuff around each of his wrists. But these felt weaker than his ankle or head bindings, somehow. He made fists, and felt the metal give way. Then he raised his hands, just a little, to make sure he could. Now if he could just catch the speaker by surprise…

His chance came soon, very soon. The man appeared in his field of vision, blocking out the lights. He was wearing a green cap and a mask, and holding what looked like a small rotary tool. "Interesting. It's woken up. Metabolism must be pretty quick." The man glanced up at his assistant. "Record the time. We'll need to adjust the bio-container accordingly."

"Yes, sir."

The man looked down at him again. "Relax. This won't hurt for long." He bent over him and lowered the tool to his forehead, his finger moving to the button.

Julian reached up, grabbed the man's head with his hands, and swung him down into his forehead as hard as he could manage, in a sort of headbutt. When he let go, the sides of the man's head were smoking where his fingers had touched him.

"FUUCCCK!" he dropped the tool as he staggered backward.

Julian reached up and pushed the metal ring off his head. It flew off, and suddenly he was sitting up, gazing at a room full of nervous people dressed in surgical scrubs and caps.

 _Should've given me the entire. Fucking. Bottle._ He thought this as hard as he could.

Someone tried to run for the open door. A woman. He slammed and locked it mentally, then reached out snapped the metal cuffs off his ankles with a thought. Last, he tore the gag out of his mouth, and threw it on the ground.

"P-please—" the surgeon's assistant mumbled.

"Why're you just standing there?!" the lead surgeon shouted, still holding his face. "Subdue it! _Now!_ "

Julian swept the surgeon against the wall with his mind, and summoned the rotary saw to his hand. He could almost taste the surge of fear. The saw began to float up from his palm, and then it was flying, burying itself in the surgeon's throat, spitting blood everywhere.

"HURRRK—" he stumbled backward.

Julian turned to the assistant, who was holding a syringe in a shaking hand. As if he was planning to actually try giving it to him. He gave the man the whole tray of pre-loaded syringes. For the rest of the attendants, he didn't really bother much. Just small aneurysms. He finally came to the last one, a woman cowering in the corner, dressed in surgical scrubs, shielding herself with her hands and saying a prayer under her breath. He felt a hot surge of anger at the thought that she would beg for help after what she was willing to do to him. But then he saw the image in her mind: two small girls. Her daughters, waiting at home. One of them wanted to watch a movie with her tonight. She had chicken pox. But surgery wouldn't give her the day off.

He closed his eyes. _Leave the building. Leave the country. If I ever fucking see you again in my life..._

She scrambled to her feet and ran into the hall, brushing past another surgeon who was just entering. He came to a halt in the doorway, dropping his clipboard and staring at the bloody mess with shock.

"What the—"

This man was the head of surgery. Bio engineering. Julian probed his mind, piecing together the full plan: extract his brain, then hook it up to some kind of biofeedback system, where they could use neurotransmitters to control his responses. Make him suggestible. Force him to do their bidding. Harkins had come up with the idea, but Kimura was the one to order the team to actually proceed with developing it. She knew the telekinetic was alive. She had planned to bring him here. To acquire him.

One of his side functions was to be torture. Probably for torturing the clone.

Julian gritted his teeth and raised his hand, surgical tools from the trays around him rising into the air.

"Wait—" the surgeon's eyes were wide. "I—I can help you. I…" he looked at his metal fingers. "I can fix your hands. Give you your _real_ ones back."

"No thanks." Julian made a fist. "I like these just fine."

He had just finished nailing him to the opposing wall of the hallway when the soldiers rounded the corner. Twenty or so. More coming. Carrying machine guns. Heavily armored. He backed into the room, thinking. Some of them had vibranium bullets mixed in with their ammo rounds, he could sense that from their thoughts. They'd go right through his shield. And killing that many targets with aneurysms was going to take a while. Hell, sixteen each during the Bastion fight had been a lot to manage. He'd have to get creative. He looked up as the first wave arrived, then reached up and brought the surgery lights crashing down as the gunfire began, using it to slam his attackers back into the doorway. Then he started picking them off as quickly as he could. More aneurysms. Punches that filled the air with sprays of blood. Toward the end, mind tricks to make them turn on each other. In between it all, shielding himself, and dodging as many bullet sprays as he could, filling with wild panic every time he couldn't, fearful a special bullet would be in there. His luck held, the bullets bouncing off his shield like he was invulnerable, the vibranium slugs not among the rounds that hit him. About a minute later, the last of his attackers was staggering to his knees, making choking noises.

And then it was silent again.

Julian let the light fixture drop to the ground with a loud clatter, and allowed himself a moment to breath. Which was kind of difficult. He realized that his face really, really hurt. His breaths gurgled. He looked into the reflective surface of the gurney and started. His nose was broken, leaning way to the left, blood splattered all over it. And they'd shaved his head. He ran his hand over his scalp and brought it away sticky and orange. Some kind of cleaning agent. He closed his eyes, then reached up to his nose and formed a triangle with his fingers. _Crunch!_

"AARRRGHHH!" He pounded his metal fist on the metal gurney. _Blam! Blam!_ as the surface dented deeply.

After the pain retreated from a full blown ten to a solid eight and he could think again, he turned his head and spat a wad of blood onto the floor, trying to force himself to relax. At least he still had his uniform. They must have decided that stripping him wasn't worth the effort. They were just going to toss his body anyway.

Julian squeezed his eyes shut. _Logan? Can you hear me? I need help, I'm up to my fucking eyeballs here!_

Silence. He couldn't even sense anyone from the team.

But he did become aware of something through his eyelids. Light. He opened them to see that red lights had started flashing, in the hallway. He heard movement. Yelling. His gaze shifted to the doorway, and he gritted his teeth, carefully wiped the back of his arm across his face. Then his shield slipped over his skin again, and he reached behind him. There was a deep grating, groaning noise as he ripped the steel gurney out of the ground with his mind.

* * *

Julian stopped at an intersection in the hallway, fresh blood dripping down his face. Someone had gotten a punch in while his shield was down. The burst of pain had snapped him out of the blurry haze of anger and blood he'd slipped into, and reminded him that there was a reason he was here. Laura. He needed to find her, _now._

And he wanted to save some energy for dealing with Kimura.

This place was a maze. All the corridors looked the same. And the slowly flashing red lights were hypnotic. Getting lost would be easy. He thought for a moment, swiped his fingers across his face, then reached to the wall and dragged them down. _1._ Then he took the turn, figuring it might lead him deeper into the facility. And deeper was where Laura would be.

He pressed on, plowing through wave after wave of soldiers, constantly needing to find new ways to protect himself. Two vibranium bullets clipped his shoulders. At one point, he shoved a medical fridge in front of him and used it as a makeshift shield, then—after the fighting was over—leaned against it, catching his breath again. Blood dripped steadily from both of his nostrils, forming a puddle on the ground. He found himself writing on walls over and over again. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

He was beginning to feel afraid that Laura wasn't even being kept in this place. What if there were _multiple_ facilities? The thought made him feel cold and tired. He was starting to run out of energy. Laura must have made this place a lot of money, for them to afford this much staff. Wait. He shook his head to clear it. The staff. Someone had to know something. And _they_ certainly weren't psi-proofed.

He straightened and carried on, deciding to take a little more time with the next group.

* * *

The cell door opened suddenly. Laura squinted against the influx of comparatively bright light, then widened as she saw that Kimura was standing before her, holding a small black box with a red button. "No sudden movements, clone." Her voice was low, serious.

Emergency lights were flashing in the background, turning everything, a dull, flickering red. Including the huge assembly of soldiers. They were all crouched low to the ground, weapons ready to fire.

Laura returned her gaze to her handler. Kimura did not usually carry the detonator. Only the trigger key fob. Things must not be going according to plan.

Kimura was losing control of the situation.

* * *

 _TWO DAYS AGO_

The door to her cell was ripped open violently. "Got a job for you, cl-oo-one!" Kimura called, in a singsong voice.

This was the first time the door had been opened in weeks. Laura had squinted against the light then too, wondering if Kimura had changed her mind and was going to begin feeding her again. But Kimura tossed a folder at her, grinning.

Laura stiffened. She knew that her grin meant more punishment for her.

She picked up the folder slowly, her heart starting to race. She had not been told anything for the past month-and-a-half of missions that Kimura had sent her on. She had simply been dragged to locations and triggered. She had been able to piece together, by the small bits of conversation that she heard before blacking out, that the region was located in southeast Asia. She suspected that Kimura was working to gain control of something, and when she stopped opening Laura's cell door, she assumed she had succeeded.

This was different. Kimura wanted her to know what was happening.

Laura flipped the folder open, and froze, her eyebrows drawing together. It contained a picture of Julian. It looked like it had been taken from far away. He was in a brick alleyway. In the background, she could see Cessily and Santo.

This was a trick of some kind. It had to be. He was dead. She studied the photograph, trying to determine when it would have been taken. He was in the black and grey outfit she had seen, the night she had killed him. And his hands…from the forearms down, they were _metal._

Kimura snatched the folder back from her. "Enough with the googly-eyes, clone. Looks like your boyfriend didn't kick the bucket after all. He's trying to find you again. Fucker's almost more persistent than you are." Pause. Grin. "You know what _that_ means, doncha?"

Laura knew what came next. "You will make me kill him again." Her voice was empty.

"Hah! No, clone, I'm not a one-trick pony." Kimura shook the folder. "I've got something much more fun in mind. And since you did soooo well with all the last jobs…I mean, I basically played the game by remote control, but still…" she clasped the folder behind her back and leaned forward, her smile growing. "I'm going to let you reel him in."

Laura stared at her, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rise. "No." Having Julian _here_ was the only thing that she could think of that would be worse than his death.

Kimura raised an eyebrow. "Aw, c'mon clone. Shouldn't you be over the moon at the thought of seeing your special someone?" Pause. Her smile faded. "You…and all your little copies." The smile was gone. The threat was clear in her tone.

Laura faltered. Her clones. They would be the ones to pay the price. Their powers had not fully developed yet, and so they had only mild healing factors. Enough to heal small cuts quickly, but not much else. She felt her protest die in her throat.

Kimura grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. "Yeah. That's what I thought. Now…fuckboy thinks he's outsmarted us. He got his teacher—you know, that rich, fake blond at your school—to hire us for a job, so they could snatch you. Thought she was being really tricky, but she has no idea who I work for. He knows _everything_." She smirked. "See, you're not going to let them take you. You're going to make 'em come to _us_."

Laura closed her eyes, then nodded, ever so slightly.

* * *

 _NOW_

Kimura reached in and grabbed her by her collar, dragging Laura out of the cell. She stumbled a bit, her legs stiff from standing in one position so long, but the firm hand kept her upright.

Laura took in her surroundings. The loading bay. Where the teleporter was kept. A woman with purple skin and long, pointed ears. She was going to be transported.

Kimura tightened her grip on Laura's collar. She looked over her shoulder at the soldiers as they passed. "Flank us, idiots!" she ordered. "Winters, Fleming—get the teleporter ready for use! I don't want any surprises."

They were standing near the back of the special holding van. It was made of insulated, adamantium and vibranium-laced steel so it would not be too heavy to move, like the coffin-cell was, but still protected. Harkins used to use this for transport between facilities, but Kimura did not need it now. Not since she had gotten her hands on the teleporting mutant. Laura sometimes wondered what terrible thing she had done to the girl to make her stay at the facility, when her powers enabled her to go anywhere in the world in an instant.

Kimura tapped a foot for a few moments, her expression darkening as no Winters or Fleming appeared to answer her orders. "Fucking typical."

 _Vrrrm!_ Laura was knocked backwards out of Kimura's hand by a wave of energy. Green energy. She rolled to her front and forced herself into a kneeling position, so she could watch what was happening. What if Kimura pressed that button by accident? "Mmmmph!"

Julian was not listening. He was obviously trying to lift Kimura, his eyes glowing. But she was not budging.

"MMMPH!" Laura warned, as the soldiers scrambled into action.

His shield spread across his skin just as they started the wave of gunfire. "Shid!" he yelled, clapping his hand over his shoulder as one of the bullets sailed through.

"Hah!" Kimura swung her fist into his face. He dodged reflexively, then looked past her, finally seeing Laura. He reached out, and she skidded across the floor on her knees and into the truck, which he had also leapt into. _SLAM!_ As he brought the door down behind them. _Click!_ as he locked it.

"Mmmmm-mmmm!" Laura sounded very concerned.

He yanked down her gag. "Id's okay. We're fine."

"The detonator!" Her voice was frantic. "You need to destroy it, _now._ Kimura has it."

There was muffled pounding at the door. But the cell had been designed to be impenetrable, and if she tried a key, he could freeze the lock with his mind. For now, Kimura couldn't access them.

"Need do free you firsd." He paused, then turned her around and examined her hand bindings. "Adamandiumb?"

"Yes." Laura shook her head. "You cannot break them. Kimura has a key."

"I don'd need keys." He knelt down behind her, focusing. A moment later, there was a small _click_ sound, and the device binding her hands opened and fell to the ground.

Laura brought her hands forward and rubbed her wrists, her eyebrows still drawn together. "There are small cuffs on my feet as well."

"On id." Julian took her bare foot in his hands, focusing on the mechanism. "So, the dedonador. Where is id? In her beld?"

"She was holding it." Laura paused. "She also has the trigger mechanism. You must destroy both of them."

 _Clink!_ "Gread." Julian picked up her other foot. _Clink!_

They stared at each other for a moment in the dim green glow his hands gave off. Then he turned his gaze back to the door. "Okay. I need you do dake oud the soldiers. I can only do so much ad once. I god do find a way to shud Kimura down."

"She has a bio-similar to vibranium in her skin." Laura paused. "Harkins discovered it shortly before…before I killed him. She had it implanted afterward."

"Ob course." Julian closed his eyes. "Ready?"

Laura crouched. _Snkkt!_ "Yes. I am ready."

* * *

Julian slid back the door and let her charge out first, then hurled himself after her. Blood was spraying everywhere. But it wasn't his. The soldiers were focusing their fire on Laura instead. He shielded himself both for protection, and to keep his eyes clear of blood splatter so he could see. There! Kimura was running toward the door of the loading bay. He tackled her just as she reached it, then slammed his metal fist into her face. With anyone else, his fist would have crushed their skull, probably gone through. With her, it just made a loud _BLAM!_ and made her head snap back for a moment.

Then _she_ punched _him_. Her fist ploughed right through his shield like it wasn't even there, and he flew backward. _BAM!_ as he hit the side of the transport truck and slid down, seeing double. His cheekbone was ringing. Probably broken. His thoughts were foggy. "Whad…" he tried to scrape together what was happening. Oh. Right. The vibranium in her skin. He reached out as he saw Kimura begin digging into her belt, and concentrated on the belt. It burst into flames, just as she produced a small keyfob. Laura's trigger control.

He looked at that too. _C_ _runch!_ The device emitted a small stream of smoke.

"Oh sweetheart." Kimura grinned. "I already _pressed_ the button." She tossed it at him as she backed away, her belt still on fire. "Tell them to keep hell warm for me."

Running footsteps, in the background. Julian knew what was happening. He gritted his teeth, then scrambled to his feet.

Just in time to face Laura.

Her eyes were red.


	23. Chapter 23 - Back in the Moment

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry it's been a while! Real life is rough and annoying. Anyways, thanks for the reviews, hope everyone enjoys this chapter! :)

* * *

CHAPTER 23  
 _Back in the Moment_

* * *

There was almost no time for thought. Laura was flying toward him, claws out, her eyes red and her pupils constricted to pinpricks. She had been triggered. He felt cold, and his hands shook, as he remembered the last time he had seen her like this.

 _SLASH!_ Her claws glided over Julian's shield, skating over his skin without touching. If it hadn't already been up, she would have cut a huge gash across his chest and face. He grabbed for her arm but it was already gone and she was whirling around with her leg to kick him in the side. _SLASH! SLASH!_ He grabbed her ankle and swept her off balance, but now she was behind him, trying to ram her claws through his torso. _SLASH!_ He had never fought anyone as fast as her before. Or flexible. Or deadly. Or that he wanted to hurt less. _SLASH!_

If he was going to get anywhere with her, he had to destroy whatever mechanism Kimura had triggered with the key fob. _SLASH!_ He suspected it would require all his focus. Like when he'd sucked the energy out of Bishop's temporal system. Meaning that he would end up dropping his shield. _SLASH!_ Which was a problem, seeing as Laura was actively trying to kill him. If it wasn't for his shield, he'd be in pieces already. So he'd have to pin her down somehow. _SLASH!_ Her foot claw slid across his throat, and he swallowed, then made a fist.

She slammed down against the steel floor, on her back. "RAAAWWRRGHH!" She snarled at him, glaring at him with red eyes, trying to twist free, arcing her back, but he was pinning down her limbs with his mind.

"Laura…" his eyebrows drew together. He wasn't sure if she could even hear him, and it was hard to speak with his broken nose filled with blood, but he had to try. "I need you do sday still. I'm drying do—"

"ARRRRGGGHHH!" She glared at him with her red eyes, baring her teeth. She wanted nothing more right now than to destroy him.

He closed his eyes. "I'm going do hold you down, okay?"

"RRRHHHNNNGGG!" She struggled again.

He forced himself to move forward. He was shaking all over now. This was definitely the most terrifying thing he'd ever done, and every instinct he had was telling him to run away, as fast as he could, from the girl who had already killed him once while triggered. But he knew he didn't have a choice. He slowly climbed on top of her, sat down on her upper legs and knees, and grabbed her wrists with his hands, trying to make sure all her limbs would be immobile.

She began to struggle even harder, snapping her teeth at him like a rabid animal. He wouldn't be surprised if she foamed at the mouth. But as hard as she was trying to free herself, his metal hands were stronger. They held, almost as securely as his mental hold had been. He forced her into a sitting position, then his shield began to fade. "Good. Sday sdill for a—"

She wrenched one arm free and stabbed at his face.

 _SHLUNK!_

He stared at his hand, which had somehow made it in front of his face just in time. The claw tips were inches from his eyes, having sliced right through his palm. But there was no pain. His fingers were beginning to glow. As were her claws.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Laura let out a yelp of pain. _Snakt!_ She looked at him with wide red eyes, the snarl momentarily fading. She was startled.

He had moments. He had to act now, or else she would keep going until he was dead. Or until _she_ was dead. He didn't want to continue this fight. He didn't know what he might do. He hadn't even meant to hurt her just now.

He focused on her nose. He knew whatever _thing_ Kimura had triggered was in there, and he had to fry it. _Think, think…_ he used Dr. McCoy's knowledge as he tried to imagine what they might have put in there. A microchip? Wires? He was travelling up a thread to her brain. An artificial nerve. He focused on the bonds, trying to break them without destroying something important in the process. _SHLUNK!_

Laura froze. The red slowly began to clear from her eyes, as if draining away. And then they were green again. "Ughhn…what…" she shook her head, then looked at him, her eyebrows drawing together. "Julian?"

Her voice was the sweetest sound he had ever heard. Not only because he had missed hearing it, but because it meant it had worked. She was Laura again. "Yeah." He stared at her for a moment, the corners of his lips turning up. Then he realized that he didn't feel right. He looked down, and saw that her fist was pressed against his abdomen. And surrounded with blood, so dark it was almost black.

Laura looked down too, and inhaled sharply. "No—"

"Jusd…calm down." His forehead wrinkled. He swallowed, trying not to panic. He was starting to feel strange. Light headed. Where the fuck was Josh when he actually needed him? Then he remembered something. Cable. The night he'd first me him. Cable had been lying on the floor inside Warren's place, keeping his wounds closed with his mind. That was the same night that Laura had killed him. _The first time._ He shook his head. "Pull them oud."

She hesitated. "You will hemorrhage. As long as my claws are—"

"Do id." He gritted his teeth.

Laura took another breath, then... _snakt!_

"…" He fell onto his side and curled into a ball as the pain amplified a thousand times, grabbing blindly at his abdomen. His eyes slid shut. It would be easy to drift away right now. But he couldn't, he needed to do something…what was it? Laura was saying something, shaking him. The wounds? He opened his eyes again, gave her a confused look. She had grabbed his hand and pressed it against where it hurt. What—oh. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he gritted his teeth as his vision began to darken. _No._ He focused on the molecules, the ones that made up his own body, and thought about pressing them together.

"The air—" Laura sounded much clearer now. Alarmed. She must be talking about the heat.

"Yeah…id does thad…" The pain was beginning to fade. It was working. Then it was gone, and he pulled his hand away, looking at the blood on his palm. Then at rips in his uniform. They were bloody, but the skin underneath had sealed. "I did id."

"…" Laura pushed his hand away and ran her fingers over the area, her eyebrows arching. "You have learned new skills."

"Someding like thad." He paused, then focused on his nose. A moment and a small _crunch_ later, it had stopped hurting too. "That's better."

Laura stared at him, with her unblinking green eyes. It seemed as if she was about to ask him a question, but then she looked over her shoulder.

Julian didn't need to ask her what was coming. He could sense them, too. Thoughts. Minds. A _lot_ of them. More soldiers they would need to kill to get out of this place. He shielded himself. How could the facility possibly afford _this_ much personnel?

Laura stood up. "I will draw their fire." _Snkkt!_ "Get behind me."

Julian watched as she charged in, then followed, the bullets bouncing off his shield like hailstones. None of them were vibranium. He wrapped his fingers around a taser stick and the woman holding it screamed, but he was already fending off someone else who was firing at him point-blank with a machine gun. He clapped his hands on their shoulders and swung them towards where Laura had just landed after a flip, her claws extended. _SHLUNK!_ The tips of her claws burst through the man's eye sockets. She pushed him off her claws and shoved his body at another person attacking her. But she didn't catch the soldier to her right, who was raising an enormous tube in her direction. He knew that tube. The same one that had knocked him out earlier. A rocket launcher.

Julian made a fist.

 _SPLAT!_

Laura spun around, watching as the rest of the soldier's body crumpled to the ground, his neck stump smoking. A red mist was filling the air. But she knelt, picked up the rocket launcher, then fired it into the remaining soldiers, skidding backwards into him from the force.

"FUCK—" he yelled as the explosion started.

The hallway filled with a roar of orange fire. Julian watched as the soldiers gathering around them disintegrated. The flames licking harmlessly past his shield, which had extended to cover Laura's skin as well. All around him, the minds were turning off, some thoughts cutting off mid-sentence, while some just faded away into nothingness, the pictures growing dim and then disappearing altogether. The silence was eerie. His eyebrows drew together. He didn't usually have time to listen in when his targets died.

"Let go." Laura was speaking to him again.

Julian realized he had wrapped his arms tightly around her stomach. He released his grip, the shield fading. "You know the way out?"

She turned to face him. For a moment, she hesitated. "The…others. We need to free them."

There was something she wasn't telling him. But he'd find out soon enough. He closed his eyes. "Where are they?"

"In the cell blocks."

Julian nodded slowly. "Lead the way."

He followed her quietly down the corridor, his brow wrinkled. Her mention of "others" had reminded him of his teammates. He hadn't been able to get a message out to them when he tried earlier, but it was strange that no one—not even Logan, with his tracking skills—had found him by now. Where the hell were they? Had Kimura gotten them, too? Somehow, he doubted it. She hadn't even been able to hold him. There was no way she could keep the entire team down. But why hadn't they come, then?

Laura turned left, into a new corridor lined with heavily reinforced metal doors. He paused at the corner for a moment, gazing down the hall. Beside each door was the title CELL BLOCK and then a number, in big, stenciled letters spray-painted onto the white concrete walls. She paused by CELL BLOCK 1, closed her eyes. "The locks are adamantium."

"I'll get it." He looked at the keypad, and thought briefly about the mess of wires inside, about interrupting the electrical current that flowed through them. The lock clicked, then he reached past her and pushed the door open, his eyes running over her face, and he paused for a moment. He suddenly realized that she was _here,_ inches away from him, so close they could touch if they wanted to. She was looking at him too, with those big green eyes, her lips parting slightly. Did _she_ want to? He gazed at her, and was just about to lean forward when her eyes widened. "No…"

"What?" he asked, confused.

She closed her eyes and bowed her head, but said nothing.

He looked through the open door. The space ahead was dim, the only lights coming from small floor lights lining the walk way. These illuminated the small metal-walled cells on both sides of the corridor. The only opening to the cells were reinforced doors with small shuttered windows, for passing food items through. He couldn't sense any minds nearby. But he couldn't sense Laura's thoughts, either, and the cells might contain vibranium, so that didn't necessarily mean anything. He pushed past Laura gently and approached the closest cell, then slid up the window flap, lighting his hand with energy so he could see.

"…" He stared at the small shape in the corner. A small girl, with long dark hair covering her downturned face. She was practically skin and bones. He couldn't see any movement.

Laura was beside him, raising on her tip toes to look in. "She is dead." Pause. "Their healing factors must not have been active." Even though her voice was usually quite monotonous, he could tell it sounded flat. Tired.

Julian looked at her. "Is she—was she your _clone?_ "

She stiffened, then nodded slightly.

"Fuck." He paused. "I—"

"Yes." Laura turned and headed toward the main entrance, her shoulders stiff. "Shouldn't we check if—"

"No one is alive here." Her voice was sharp.

"Okay." He followed her out. "Laura—"

"Open this." She was standing by the next keypad. She obviously didn't want to talk right now.

He fell silent, reaching out and focusing on the wires. The lock clicked, then the next door swung open.

Laura took a step in. A moment passed, then she returned, shaking her head slightly.

With each block of dead clones, Laura's manner grew more agitated. In the fifth block, she let out a soft noise, then stomped toward the sixth. He caught her wrist as she brushed past him again. "Hey. Laura."

She looked down. "Let go of me."

His eyebrows drew together. "No. Come here."

She closed her eyes. "There are more cells to check."

He shook his head, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her in for a hug. "I'm sorry. I…I should have found you sooner." He mumbled this into her hair. His throat felt tight. "I'm so sorry."

She didn't speak, but she didn't push him away, either. He rubbed her back slowly, comfortingly, but he was thinking. _Kimura._ He had to kill her. He had to figure it out. There had to be some way to wipe her out of existence. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then gently pushed Laura away, his hands on her shoulders. "Let me check the rest of the blocks. And then…and then we're leaving this behind. Okay?"

Laura nodded, just slightly. Her eyes were dull.

He squeezed her upper arms, then let go and headed for the sixth cell block, the lock clicking open by the time he had reached the door and was shoving it out of his way.

Instantly, he knew this corridor was different. Three minds, toward the end. He could sense them. "Laura."

She peered around the door, her eyebrows drawing together. Then her eyes widened, and she pushed past him as she rushed down the corridor. Stopping in front of the doors, she eyed the keypads. "Light the—"

 _CLICK!_

The doors swung open.

Laura glanced at him. "You should not have done that. We do not know if they will try to attack us."

Julian paused. "Guess we'll find out shortly."

"Yes." She peered into the cells. "Clones—"

Three little girls shot out and fell to their knees in front of her. "X-TWENTY-THREEEE!" they shouted, in unison. One skidded slightly and bumped into her boot. They all had Laura's face, only much smaller and more youthful. And on each was an expression of awe. Reverence.

Julian stared at them, overwhelmed. Seeing the dead, starved clone in the cell, hunched over in the dark, was one thing. Seeing these girls, these tiny replicates of the woman standing next to him, was another. They were all very thin. His forehead wrinkled.

"X-23, did you really beat Weapon X's mission times by three minutes, twenty-four seconds?!" the one that had bumped into her boot asked. Her voice was much higher pitched than Laura's.

"Of _course_ she did, why would you even _ask_ that?!" another one snapped, looking irritated. "Please ignore her. She is defective." This one glanced up at Laura.

"I am not defective!" the boot-clone protested. "I survived the trials, same as you!"

"Ahem!" Whispered the clone who hadn't spoken yet.

Three heads pivoted toward Julian.

"A target!" The boot-clone scrambled to her feet. _Snkkt!_ Two tiny little bone claws had emerged from between the knuckles of each hand.

 _Snkkt! Snkkt!_ The other girls were leaping after her. "KILL IT! KILL IT!"

"What the—" Julian swept his would-be attackers away with a thought. "Laura, control yourselves."

"They did not tell us the targets would fight back!" The boot-clone sounded alarmed.

"Or _speak!_ What should we do?" This was the clone that had drawn attention to him in the first place.

"Do not be stupid, of _course_ we should—"

"STOP IT!" Laura shouted, apparently having regained her senses.

The girls froze, their eyes widening.

"Retract your claws and _come here._ " Laura's voice was firm.

A flurry of footsteps. The girls were now standing in front of her, gazing up attentively. They had retracted their claws, and he saw that the wounds had healed. No wonder they had survived. They had active healing factors.

"Julian is _not_ a target." She paused. "Do you understand?"

One hand shot up. The boot-clone. "Yes, but what is a 'Julian'?"

Laura's eyebrows drew together, and she pointed to Julian. "That is his name. Do not try to kill him, do you understand?"

Nods. Another hand shot up. The girl who had snapped at boot-clone. "Yes, but why? It is clearly inferior."

More nods.

Julian folded his arms.

"Because…do not ask questions, do as I say." Laura paused. "What are your designations?"

The girls answered immediately, in a jumbled chorus.

Julian raised his eyebrows. "I had no idea you could have been this annoying as a kid."

Laura closed her eyes. "One at a time."

"X-66." The boot-girl sounded proud. "But you can call me Sixty-six."

"X-65." This was from the girl who had pointed him out.

"X-64." The third girl, the one who seemed to boss the others around. Julian wasn't surprised, somehow. She seemed like the oldest. Not by much, but just enough to make her feel like she should be in charge.

"My name is Laura." Laura crouched down. "Once you leave this place, you will not be X-66 anymore."

Sixty-six looked puzzled. "Why not?"

Laura closed her eyes. "I will explain later. And give you new names. But now, we are in a hurry."

Sixty-four's hand shot up. "Why are you in a hurry?"

"And will you come back?" Sixty-six asked.

"You are coming with us." Laura paused, put her hands on Sixty-four's shoulders. "We are leaving soon. Once we have checked the other cells. Come with me. Do not argue."

Sixty-six shot her sister an envious look.

Sixty-four grinned at her. "X-23 touched _me_ because I am the best!" she hissed.

Julian looked at Laura as she got to her feet. " _Everyone_ wants a piece of you."

She gave him an irritated look. "Be quiet."

He grinned. He hadn't seen that look from her in a long, long time. Then he remembered where they were standing. His grin faded. He shook his head slightly to clear it, then followed Laura and her small entourage out of the cell block.

* * *

"Kimura has left." Laura said this, her voice quiet and monotonous, her expression flat. Her eyes were half lidded.

They were standing near the exit, so close that he could imagine the feeling of the fresh air on his skin. It was strange to think about the outside world. A place that didn't have slowly flashing red lights, and dry, recycled air.

He wondered if the girls had ever been outside.

They were standing quietly, but trading wide-eyed glances.

There had been no more living clones. Out of a hundred, only these three had survived. Julian had seen some messed up things during his time with Logan's team, but nothing like this. Ever. He couldn't even wrap his head around it yet.

"We need to destroy the building." Laura folded her arms and looked at him expectantly. "Can you do this?"

"Uh." Julian shrugged. "I could probably short out the wiring…?"

"No." Laura paused. "We will need an explosion. A fire will not be sufficient. The other clones—" she closed her eyes, a flicker of emotion crossing her features. Then they smoothed again, and she resumed. "They need to be destroyed. Completely. No DNA can remain."

"Yeah." Julian paused. "Well…you're the—" he stopped, his eyebrows drawing together. He'd been about to say _expert,_ then he remembered that he had Dr. McCoy's chemistry knowledge sitting in the back of his head, just waiting for him to riffle through it. He closed his eyes, rubbed his neck as he thought, then raised a finger. "Chain reaction. Mess around with a few hydrogens and make an unstable molecule. Risky, but I can stop it." Pause. "I think. I mean, I've never actually tried it. In theory—"

He stopped, seeing the weird look Laura was giving him, one eyebrow raised.

"You have studied Chemistry?" Her tone was skeptical.

"Something like that." He paused. "Before I do anything, you guys need to get out of here." He was already starting to regret his suggestion. What if he lost control of the reaction?

"Yes." Laura paused. "I will need you to remove the carbonadium explosive pellet first."

"Uh, sure." Julian also paused. "…where is it?"

"Inside of my skull." Laura's voice was matter of fact. "Near the corpus callosum, in the lateral ventricle."

He stared at her. "Did you just casually ask me to perform _brain surgery_ on you?"

Laura folded her arms. "Yes. Be careful, the pellet is touch sensitive. You cannot apply _any_ pressure to it, or it will detonate and destroy all of the tissue around it."

"Cool." Julian closed his eyes. "No pressure. Got it."

"Yes, that is what I said. Stop wasting time."

He gritted his teeth. "I barely know how to control my powers as it is, Laura. I'm not about to go inside your fucking _brain_ with them."

"From what I have seen, you have excellent control of your powers. You have already removed something from my brain today." Laura paused. "Besides, I cannot leave the building otherwise. The capsule will detonate."

"…" Julian's eyebrows drew together. "You didn't think I needed to know about that, before this moment?"

"No." She arched her eyebrows. "I told you when it was prudent."

He folded his arms. "And what if I had grabbed you and flown off?"

Laura paused, her self-assured look fading. "Yes, I see your point." She looked a little…embarrassed?

He closed his eyes. "Do the girls have capsules too?"

"I am not certain." She frowned. "Perhaps you will be able to tell after removing mine?"

He shook his head. "God, Laura. I really don't think this is a good idea. I have no idea how I can get something out of your head without putting any kind of pressure on it."

"Remove the section of brain tissue it is imbedded in."

"I'm not lobotomizing you!"

"It is not a lobotomy. A lobotomy is performed on the frontal lobe. This is on my central brain, near my brainstem." Laura's nose wrinkled. "Besides, as long as there is no explosion, the tissue will grow back almost instantaneously."

"Okay, so how the fuck do I get this brain chunk out of your skull? It's kind of built so things can't leave it." He paused. "Crack it?"

Laura shook her head. "My skull is infused with adamantium." She paused. "And a small amount of the vibranium biosimilar." She hesitated. "You will bring the piece through my eye socket."

"…" Julian stared at her. "This is, without a doubt, the most fucked-up thing anyone's ever asked me to do. You know that, right?" He paused. "And that's not something to be proud of."

Laura's forehead wrinkled. "Why would I be proud?"

"Never mind." He sighed. "Okay. Uh. The girls shouldn't see this."

She looked confused. "Why?"

Julian paused. "Because this isn't going to be pretty. And I don't want your guard clones attacking me."

Laura glanced at the three girls. "Wait around the corner. And _stay_ until we call you."

The girls obediently marched down the hallway and around the corner. One of them skipped slightly as she walked.

Julian reached out and took her hands, then guided Laura to sit on the floor with him. She sank down easily, her eyes trained on his.

"Be careful, please." Her voice shook very slightly.

He realized she was afraid, despite how certain and nonchalant she had seemed just a few moments ago. And for some reason, that made him realize that failure wasn't an option. He _had_ to do this, somehow. He squeezed her hands. "I will."

She slipped her fingers out of his grasp, then reached up and—with a _snkkt!_ –popped a claw into her eye. "Hnn—"

"Uhhgh." Julian swallowed, hard. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated on feeling the space around him. He became aware of the capsule, sitting like a pebble in her brain. He focused on the tissue around it, carefully trying to scoop a tiny amount around the capsule. Just a few cells, enough to cushion it from the forcefield he was forming.

And then he felt the capsule detonate.

"HURRK—" Julian squeezed her hand tightly, gritting his teeth, his eyebrows drawing together, his entire body tensing as he focused. There was a _lot_ of concussive force. It like dynamite. It was almost as strong as the energy he had removed from Bishop's temporal system. For a moment he teetered on the edge of losing control. He leaned forward, his entire body tensing. Then, suddenly, he had it. The molecules of the explosion were frozen, the energy they were emitting being absorbed by his shield and channeled back to him. He began to drag it out, forcing himself to ignore the catch in Laura's breathing. She retracted her claw just in time to clear a path.

And then it was outside.

Julian looked at the marble-sized bubble, which was black inside. Then at Laura, whose eye was already regrowing in the socket. Good as new.

He looked back at the bubble. "Weren't we just talking about needing explosives?"

Laura raised her eyebrows, but he could've sworn he saw the hint of a smile.

* * *

 _BOOOM!_

 __Julian watched as the snow shot up twenty feet. The ground beneath his feet shook.

As it had turned out, the girls had not had capsules. He had breathed a sigh of relief, since he hadn't been eager to repeat the extraction experience. Now they were standing outside, all five of them, all in one piece. Free. He let out a breath, watching as it evaporated into the air. It was really, really cold out here. "Where are we?"

Laura looked at him. "Siberia."

"Fuck." His forehead wrinkled. No wonder no one had come. "How did they get me here? I don't feel like we were out that long. We were in Ontario. Logan and James and a bunch of the others were just outside the facility."

"Kimura has a teleporter." Laura paused. "There are many facilities now. She is working for—"

"Bastion?" Julian guessed.

Laura raised her eyebrow. "Yes, how did you know?"

"I've had the pleasure of meeting him." He closed his eyes. "So, any idea where she scurried off to?"

Laura paused. "She has been working on gaining control of a region in southeastern Asia. Many of my…missions…were focused on this."

"Great." Julian paused. "We need to take a breather, though. Rest. Eat. Reconnect with the team. I'm not facing Kimura alone again."

Laura nodded slightly.

 _There you are!_

Julian started in surprise, then closed his eyes.

 _Goodness, I have searched everywhere for you._ Frost paused. _Logan is very vexed with you. I must confess I am, too. He wants to know why you did not wait._

 _Kimura shot a rocket launcher at my face._ Julian paused. _But I'm fine. We're in Siberia. Laura's with me. Can someone come get us?_

 _Yes, but tomorrow, I'm afraid. I will make arrangements for you to stay at the nearest hotel. There is one in Krasnokamensk. I am giving you the coordinates as we speak._ Frost paused. _Are you alright?_

 _Fine._ Julian paused. _Tell Logan that Kimura's still alive. She's working for someone named Bastion._ Frost may not have heard of him yet, but Logan sure would.

 _I will._

Julian opened his eyes, to see that Laura was watching him, her eyebrow raised again.

"Talking to Frost." He paused. "I'm a telepath now."

Laura's mouth opened. Beside her, the girls, who had been fidgeting around, froze and stared at him.

"TELEPATH!" they screeched, popping their small claws simultaneously and charging at him.

"What the— _hey!_ " he had just managed to shield himself in time, as a clone swiped at his knee cap. _SLASH!_

"Stop it!" Laura ordered.

"But it is a telepath!" one of the girls said. He thought it might be Sixty-six. "You must not believe it, X-23! It is lying!"

"All telepaths are liars!" Another girl added. _SLASH!_

The third girl rolled her eyes. "No, stupid, not liars…worse. Telepaths _put_ things in your head and make you _believe_ them." _SLASH!_

Sixty-six paused. "What if it has left already?"

"Then we should go after it!" This was the girl that had made the "liar" comment. _SLASH! SLASH!_

"But I can _smell_ it." Sixty-six wrinkled her nose. "I think it is here." _SLASH!_

"Telepaths can _do_ that." The third girl glared at her sister. "They are all sorts of devious." _SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!_

"It is a ploy to confuse us!" the liar girl exclaimed. _SLASH!_

Sixty-six wrinkled her nose. "It is called reverse psychiatry." _SLASH! SLASH!_

"Psychology." The third girl rolled her eyes. "Sixty-six, you are defective. I do not know why Harkins failed to eliminate you." _SLASH!_

"I survived the trials!" Sixty-six snapped. "Same as you." _SLASH! SLASH!_

"STOP IT!" Laura ordered, much louder this time.

The girls turned to look at her, their foreheads wrinkling.

"He is not the enemy." She folded her arms. "Retract your claws and come here."

"But—" Sixty-six said.

Laura glared at her. " _Now._ "

 _Snakt! Snakt! Snakt!_

The girls marched toward her, their heads bowed.

"Do _not_ attempt to attack him again." Laura paused. "He is helping us. I will defend him next time." She looked at Julian. "We should leave the area."

"Yeah." He paused. "You sure we can take them out in public though? They're pretty wild." His knees would be mincemeat if not for the shield.

Laura gave the girls a stern look. "Do not eject your claws again tonight."

A chorus of "yes." Sixty four looked down, as if in shame.

"Fine." Julian held out his hand to her. "Need a lift?"

Her expression softened slightly, and she slipped her hand into his.

There was a moment of surprise as he discovered she was about two hundred pounds heavier than he remembered, even accounting for the added weight of the girls, who had wrapped themselves around each of her free limbs like monkeys. His forehead wrinkled. "The fuck've you been eating? _Lead?_ "

"No, my bones are infused with adamantium." Her voice was flat.

He remembered that weird dream he'd had, after killing Deathstryke. Laura floating in a tube, whimpering in pain. Maybe it had been real. "I'm sorry."

Laura said nothing.

* * *

Julian rubbed his face. He was exhausted, but he was nowhere near being able to sleep. Frost had contacted him with more hotel details shortly after they had landed. Laura and the girls were waiting by the curb, several shopping bags of clothes and food beside them. They had been surprisingly well behaved, having taken Laura's recent order to be silent very literally.

He walked into the hotel lobby, thinking very hard about the fact that he looked perfectly decent, and not at all like a corpse from WWII.

The lady at the desk smiled at him. "How can I help you tonight?" She said this in Russian, but he read her meaning from her mind.

He cleared his throat. "Should be a reservation under Frost."

She started working on her computer. "Yes, I see it here. One for one adult, and one for an adult and three children?"

"Yup." He leaned on the desk, trying not to let on that he wanted to collapse against it.

"The rooms are nonsmoking, and the rate is one-hundred twenty three euros a night per room. May I have the credit card please?"

Julian cleared his throat. "Here you go."

The lady reached out as if she was accepting a card, then began to type on her computer. "Let me get the keycards for you."

"Thanks." Julian leaned on the counter.

The lady returned with the keycard and handed it to him with a smile. "Will that be all?"

"Yeah. Thanks." He took it and returned outside, then gave Laura the keycard to her room. "Think it's on the fourth floor."

"Thank you." She put the card in her new coat pocket, then looked down. "For everything."

He shoved his hands in his own pockets. "Don't."

She raised her eyes again.

"It's not something you thank me for." He closed his eyes. "I got you into this in the first place, remember? I insisted on coming with you to the facility. I didn't listen when you warned me that Kimura needed to die."

Laura said nothing.

"Well, I'm going to go sleep forever now." He grinned at her slightly.

"Okay."

"Okay." He closed his eyes, then headed into the hotel, biting his lip. He'd never really got this far with all his planning and determination to free her from the facility, to the point where she was actually _free_ , and he was back in the moment with her, trying to figure out what she was thinking. Did she even like him anymore? It _had_ been over two years, and she had thought he was dead for a while. Plus, all the torture and trauma she'd been through.

When he got to his room, he went for a shower, started it with his mind. He stood there for a while after the water running into the drain turned from red to clear, hanging his head and trying to relax.

* * *

Laura watched as her three clones leaned over the edge of the bridge, murmuring among themselves.

After Julian had left, she took them on a walk, mostly because she was eager to begin introducing them to the world, but also because she _could._ It was unreal to walk freely again. To not have Kimura hovering nearby, ready to deliver pain. She shoved her hands into her coat pockets again, fingering the keycard. To have a room that she was free to enter and exit. With a bed. With a thermostat that _she_ controlled. Would she ever become used to this again?

She remembered how strange it had all felt when she had left the facility for the first time. This was probably what the girls were experiencing. Everything was wonderous and new and _fresh._ But for Laura, it felt like revisiting a dream. A good dream. That she might wake from, to find that she was still in her cell.

She looked at the girls. "I would like to know more about you."

They looked at each other in confusion.

"Who is the eldest?"

Sixty-four raised her hand.

As she had suspected. Laura paused. "And youngest?"

Now Sixty-six raised her hand. "I am. By three days."

Laura knelt. "You did not have mothers, correct?" She suspected they had been matured in the sort of artificial wombs that Rice had developed before she escaped the Facility the first time.

A chorus of "no."

"Speak one at a time." Laura tilted her head. "There was someone who visited your cells? Other than Harkins and your handlers?"

"Yes." Sixty-four.

"A male with cleaning equipment." Sixty-six.

"Bert." Sixty-four again. "Bert sometimes brought us sweet tasting items called candy."

"I like Twizzlers." Sixty-five, in a whisper.

"This is how we survived the hunger." Sixty-six. "Before it began…Bert brought us each a handful, and told us to ration it. We were obedient."

Laura frowned. "Why did he only visit _your_ cells?"

"Bert used to do something called singing while cleaning the corridor." Sixty-four paused. "Sixty-five imitated this."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "You cannot use your facility designation, when you are free. And you are free now." She paused. "I will give you new names."

"Bert gave us…names." Sixty-five said this hesitantly.

Laura raised her eyebrows. "What are they? One at a time."

"Betty." Sixty-six paused. "Bert said this was 'after' an individual named 'Betty Grable.'"

"Gabby." Sixty-four paused. "The full name is 'Gabriella.' Apparently 'after' one of Bert's ancestors."

"Alice." Sixty-five whispered this.

Laura looked at Alice. "For?"

"A character in a book." Alice looked down. "Bert read it to us once."

" _Alice in Wonderland._ " Betty wrinkled her nose. "It was strange."

"Bert read it to something called a granddaughter." Gabby paused. "What is a granddaughter?"

"The female offspring of one's offspring." Laura found she was impressed. The girls seemed more advanced than she had been upon escaping the facility for the first time. The corners of her lips turned upward. Perhaps they would be able to adapt to freedom quickly. They could be what she had never been. "We are returning to the hotel now. Follow."

* * *

Laura helped the girls with their new evening ritual: changing into the flannel pajamas Julian had grabbed as an afterthought, and brushing their teeth. Their healing factors, which seemed to be somewhat active, would prevent tooth decay, and so this was unnecessary. However, Debbie and Megan had taught her these rituals, and she found them comforting, so she thought the girls might find them to be so as well. Afterward, she tucked them into the bed, also a new experience. Alice whispered something about it being so soft. Shortly afterward, they fell asleep.

And then Laura was alone again.

She rubbed her elbows, her eyebrows drawing together. The last moment she had been alone was in her cell. The silence was unpleasant. She looked around the room, then at the door. Would Julian be awake? No. It was late, and he had been tired.

But she had not really _looked_ at him earlier. They had been busy, fighting and making tactical decisions. She had not even fully processed the fact that he had somehow survived trigger scent. Not just once, but twice. She hesitated for a moment, then slipped her keycard into the pocket of her new jeans, and headed for the door.

He had not told her where to find him, but it was not difficult to track his movements through the hotel by scent. It was slightly different than it used to be, now with an undercurrent of metal. However, there was still that part that was just _him_ , the part she could not describe, that she would know anywhere.

She reached his door, made a fist— _snkkt!—_ and carefully slid the tip of her claw into the lock, then slipped in, pulling the door shut gently behind her.

Her ears were met with deep, steady breathing. He was asleep. A moment later, she saw him on the bed. The room was dark, but she had night vision, and could see his arm resting across his forehead, his blankets twisted around his figure. He was not wearing a shirt, but he was wearing gym shorts at least. Her eyes lingered on his torso, noting that there were no scars on his skin. She had wondered about this, if her attempts to kill him had left other evidence besides his metal hands, which extended halfway up to his forearms.

She ran her gaze over these uncertainly. What where they made of? Where had he gotten them? Where had he gotten all these new skills? He had changed greatly since she had last known him. His abilities were much more refined. He had not only survived the trigger scent mechanism, but he had destroyed it. And when they had been under attack, he had not held back. At all. Her eyebrows drew together as she remembered the man's blood spraying across her face as his skull exploded. Even _she_ had been momentarily disturbed.

This was the change that surprised her the most. He had killed so easily. Not just one person. Dozens. More. Julian had been so resistant before. He had lectured her, and gotten angry with her, and now…now he did not care. Why? What had he done to learn these things? Had she caused this somehow? Somehow, this thought alarmed her. She closed her eyes. She was the cause of so much harm already. Perhaps her thoughts in the cell had been warranted. She should not exist outside the facility. She—

"AHHHHGH!" Julian sat up, his eyes wide, his heartrate rising exponentially. _VRRRRM!_ A wave of what looked like green fire was sweeping her way. Rapidly. She just had time to shield her face with her arms. The paint on the walls began to bubble and hiss in its wake, and the material warped slightly. Her skin stung, but it healed quickly. She looked up again to see him gazing down at his fists, which were glowing.

He looked confused. He slowly unclenched them, and the glowing dimmed. Then he looked up, and his forehead wrinkled as he saw her there. "Laura?"

She hesitated. "Yes."

He seemed to take in the bubbling paint behind her. "Are you okay?"

Laura nodded. "I was not expecting you to…attack me."

"Sorry." Julian frowned. "Must have been dreaming or something."

She tilted her head, but said nothing.

"What're you doing here anyway?" He paused. "Something wrong?"

"No." Laura's eyes lowered. Now that the shock of his waking had passed, she was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He had caught her watching him sleep. The last time he had woken to find her doing that, he had blasted her through a wall.

Movement. Now he was sliding off the end of the bed, standing in front of her. He lifted her chin with his metal finger. "Hi."

Her eyebrows drew together. "Hi."

Pause. "I missed you." He moved his hand up to the side of her face, brushing aside a strand of hair threatening to fall into her eyes. "Did you miss me?"

"I…" Laura looked up at him, and felt her face beginning to get hot. This was frustrating. She had not had trouble speaking to him earlier. It had been simple, easy. Yet now...no words came. Her eyebrows drew together, and her gaze lowered again.

"Laura. No." He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers firmly.

She stiffened, but her eyes slid shut, almost on their own. The tingling was starting, all over, every place that he was touching her, that same tingling she had felt that night in the snow, or that day in the arcade. Like the fire that had licked over her skin. She could sense the heat of his body. His heartbeat was slightly elevated, but calm, steady. Certain. She felt the nagging urge to pull away. She could kill him at any moment. Kimura would make her. No, the trigger mechanism was gone. Kimura was not here. She breathed his scent in, and leaned into him.

He pulled away.

She stared at him with wide eyes, her upper lip curled slightly, almost indignantly. She realized that she had not been ready for him to stop.

He ran his metal thumb over her lower lip, then cleared his throat. "I need you to know…this isn't why I came back for you."

Laura tilted her head, her eyes half lidded.

"I came back to make things right. I did what anyone _should_ do for you. That's how things are supposed to work." He paused. "They don't, for some reason. But…they do for me. And you." He gave her a serious look. "I'm not expecting anything. Okay?"

Laura's forehead wrinkled. She was not certain what he meant. "Okay."

Julian closed his eyes. "I'll always be your friend, no matter what."

She stared at him for a moment. She knew friends did not do what they had just done, and she was alarmed, because she wanted to continue. "…friend?"

He nodded. "But if you want more…if you want _me_ …that's all you need to do. I'm not going to push you, so— _mmmph._ "

Laura kissed him, hard, her eyebrows drawing together. Then she pushed him backward, onto the bed. "Yes, I want you. Take off your clothes."

He stared at her, as if he did not understand.

Impatient, she reached down and hooked her fingers into his shorts, then pulled them down, her eyes flitting over his body. As she did so, she realized that yes, this was what she had wanted to do for a long time. She climbed on top of him and began kissing him again, occasionally pausing to help him remove what remained of her fire-damaged clothes, because she felt he was not doing it quickly enough. His hands buried themselves in her hair at first, then glided all over her figure, followed by his mouth. She raised an eyebrow when he paused at her breast, wondering why he would do such a thing, but soon was gripping the headboard, questions forgotten. How had she never known she could feel this way? It was as if he knew her body better than she did. After a while, he began heading downward, his hands sliding from her sides to her thighs. He paused to flash her a grin as he pulled up the blanket over his head.

Laura could still feel his mouth on her stomach, his hands on her knees, and while it felt good, it was a plateau compared to what she had felt moments ago. Perhaps there were limits to what he knew. After all—Laura's eyes widened, her mind suddenly a complete blank as his tongue found an area of her body that she did not even know existed. _Snkkt! SHLUNK!_ As her claws buried themselves in the headboard. She was only dimly aware of this.

He flinched, pausing momentarily, his fingers tightening around her thighs, but then they relaxed. Her eyebrows drew together, as thought returned. What was the purpose of such an area? What—he was moving again. She stopped caring about things such as reason. She arched her back and, without realizing she had done so, loudly encouraged him to continue, her hands forming fists against the headboard. She was beginning to shake. "Ughhnnn…" she tossed her head, wondering what was about to happen.

He stopped suddenly, then moved back up to the pillow. "You like?"

"Why did…" she whispered, her voice hoarse. She cleared her throat and swallowed, her eyebrows drawing together. "Why did you _stop?_ "

He leaned down and kissed her softly. "You know why." His hands ran up and down her sides. "If you want."

She gazed at him for a moment, uncertain. It was difficult to think, but she felt she should. "I…I do not think we should make offspring…right now..."

"We won't." He looked over his shoulder at his bag and caught a foil packet in the air, then began to fumble with it.

After a moment, Laura reached out and took it from him. She had seen this before, but the purpose had been unclear. Now it made sense. He was watching her. She cleared her throat. "I have qualifications. I practiced application in an academic setting, on a fruit, but—"

Julian kissed her again, hard, his eyebrows drawing together. Then he drew away and gave her a fierce look. "I _love_ you."

Laura paused. There were those words again. The ones she only heard when someone was about to leave her. She looked down at the packet, tore it open. "Okay."

"Laura?"

She shook her head slightly, and reached down. He did not speak again for a while.

* * *

"Shit…" Julian panted, looking at the section of headboard he'd torn out a few moments ago. Then he tossed it to the side and flopped down beside Laura, his arms sliding around her, pulling her body against his and burying his face in her neck. He started to drift off almost immediately.

Laura was saying something. He opened one eye slightly. "Huh?"

"Your hands." She touched his metal thumb with her fingers. "What are they?"

He blinked for a few moments, processing the question. "They're techno organic." He flexed his fingers. "Logan and Josh think it was Warren. I was dying…he saved my life…then I woke up with them."

She closed her eyes. "You were not dying. You _were_ dead." Pause. Deep breath. "I killed you."

Julian looked at her, frowning. "I know."

They were both silent for a moment, then he reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, grinning slightly. "For future reference…don't say stuff like that when you're sleeping with someone."

She rolled over to her stomach, propping herself up on her elbows. "We were not sleeping."

"It's a saying." He ran his metal thumb over her cheek now.

She looked down at it, her eyebrows drawing together, then she closed her eyes. "I…I am sorry." Pause. "For hurting you."

"You didn't." His voice was firm. "That wasn't _you._ That was…something the facility made."

"The facility made me."

"The only _good_ thing they've ever done." He paused. "And it was by accident."

Laura shook her head. "I am not…good."

"Yeah you are." He sighed. "I spent like a couple hours in that place. Total. And it wrecked my life. You…you were _born_ there, and you've taken everything they throw at you…and somehow you're still you."

Laura hesitated. "You said I was…wrong. To kill. You were disgusted." She looked at him again. "And now you are not. Why?"

Julian closed his eyes. "Just forget anything I said to you before." He paused. "I'm working on not being such a piece of shit."

This did not answer her question, but she said nothing. Perhaps he did not want to tell her that she had caused the damage. Or maybe she had not understood what he meant. She felt frustrated, and her forehead wrinkled.

"Come here." He pulled her down, wrapping his arms around her tightly and burying his face in her hair. There was no scent, but it was still warm and soft. He fell asleep soon after.


	24. Chapter 24 - Commence the Lesson

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Happy holidays to all! Glad that there seemed to be enjoyment of the last chapter, thanks for reading as always! :)

In answer to a few questions...yes, three clones! I've always been inspired to write about multiple Laura's after watching Kyle & Yost's _Wolverine and the X-men_ cartoon, in which there were three of her (Julian also cameo'd there, except he never ran into them because the series got cancelled before that point). I probably will write a fic about that sometime, but here, it felt perfect. I have a lot planned with it! One I named Gabby, as I have heard from multiple people that comic-Laura has a clone daughter called that. The others I decided were Betty after Betty Draper from Madmen and Alice is just a name I have always liked.

Yes, the girls have accelerated growth due to accelerated metabolisms (active healing factors, although they are not as strong as Laura's yet). They are physiologically about five or six years of age, and have had intense training for most of that time (beginning from as soon as they could speak). And yes, Kimura is not dead...yet.

* * *

CHAPTER 24

 _Commence the Lesson_

* * *

Laura watched the blood slowly rolling down her wrist, just behind the tip of her claw. She was laying on her side, her back to Julian, who was on his back, still sleeping. She could hear the slow, steady rhythm of his heart, the regular pattern of his breathing. All of which had stopped when she killed him.

Her eyebrows drew together. How was he alive? Was it his techno organic enhancements? Perhaps. But he seemed...almost as she had remembered him. His eyes were the same pale blue as before, his skin the same pinkish tone. His scent had changed slightly, now containing an undercurrent of _metallic_ , but it was not drastic. Altogether, he seemed to truly be alive. Not just reanimated. Not like the men Bastion had brought with him, when he met with Kimura. They had looked pale. Blueish. They had smelled of death. He did not.

"Laura?"

 _Snakt._ She looked over her shoulder questioningly.

He ran his metal fingers over her jaw, then pulled her down for a kiss. "Morning."

Her skin began to warm. She gave him an alarmed look. "Why am I still reacting to you?"

Julian gazed up at her. "Huh?"

Her forehead wrinkled. "We already have practiced…reproducing." Pause. "Is once not enough?"

"Nope. Have to get it just right." He pulled her down again.

A few minutes later: _Snkkt! Shlunk!_

Julian glanced up. "Fuck. Frost is going to _know._ This room is on her credit card _._ "

Laura opened her eyes. "Know?"

"The energy damage is one thing." He paused. "But…come on. A broken headboard. With stab marks. In my room."

Laura shrugged. "She would know anyway. She is a telepath."

"It doesn't work like that." Julian sounded annoyed. "We don't just pry into your mind whenever we feel like it."

She knew, from her experiences with Frost before, that what he had said was not true. But she said nothing, her lips pressing into a line.

After a few moments of silence, Julian cleared his throat. "So…what're you going to name the clones?

Laura shook her head. "They have names."

"Really?" He ran his hand down her side. "What are they?"

"X-66 is Betty…X-65 is Alice…and X-64 is Gabby." Laura paused. "Apparently, a janitor named them."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why do you all have names like fifties' housewives?"

Laura did not understand, so she did not answer.

He grinned at her. "Never mind."

She was silent, but the corner of her mouth turned up slightly. She liked his smile. She reached up and ran her fingers over his mouth.

His smile began to fade, as he stared at her.

She stared at him too. "Again."

"Gimme a sec." He slipped out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

She watched him go, her eyes trained on his form. Now that she considered it, it was foolish to think once would be enough, for "practicing" with him. Every skill she had ever learned required hours and hours of practice. _Years_. This would be no different. She was resolved to perfect it.  
The toilet flushed, then he poked his head around the doorframe. "Who's watching the girls?"

Laura paused.

Julian gazed at her, then closed his eyes. "Fuck. _FUCK._ "

Her eyebrows drew together. "What?"

"They're not in the room." He paused. "I just mind-tapped them…and I'm seeing banquet tables."

"…" Laura scrambled to her knees. "We need to—"

Julian summoned his boxers. "Yup."

* * *

Julian walked hurriedly down the hallway, Laura close behind. He stopped as he noticed a gouge in the hallway wall. A set of gouges. That trailed down to the elevator. As if a little girl with claws had run down the hallway. Giggling.

Laura gazed at the gouges too, her expression grim.

After a moment, they walked toward the elevator. The doors opened to reveal an elderly couple, who smiled. "Hello."

"Hello." Laura returned their smile.

"Hi." Julian looked down. There were scratches all around the steel walls of the elevator. His eyes narrowed, and he elbowed Laura in the side. She looked down, and inhaled sharply.

The elevator reached the ground floor and he rushed down the hallway.

It wasn't as bad as he had expected. It was worse.

Alice was trying on sunglasses. Around her, a bunch of pairs were scattered on the floor, some broken, some twisted. Betty was running around the shop screeching and dragging her claws through a shelf of chips for some reason, a feather boa floating in the air behind her. And Gabby was crouched on the counter, her claws out and pressed against the shop keeper's throat. She was snarling. And wearing his turban.

Julian blinked. "STOP!" he roared.

The girls froze. Then they turned to him, their eyes wide.

"But—" Betty began.  
Julian held up his hand. "I don't want to hear it. Drop _everything_ you took."

A series of thumps, as the girls dropped everything they were holding. Alice dropped some bananas and an apple, which he didn't understand, but whatever. "Good. Now. You have one minute to get the hell back in that room. Don't stop _._ Don't talkto anyone. Don't even _look_ at anyone. Is that perfectly clear?"

Nods all around.

"GO!" he snapped.

The girls started running toward the elevator.

Laura passed them, and then entered the shop. Her eyes widened as she took in the damage.

Julian looked at the shopkeeper. "I'm sorry."

The man looked at them with wide eyes, then reached over and tossed a box of condoms at him. "Don't have any more children. Please. Keep using these."

Julian's face turned beet red, and he closed his eyes. "Yeah, yeah." He whirled his hand in the air, using the same kind of technique he had once used for reassembling Santo. The sunglasses flew back together and onto the rack, the chips packages sealed themselves, and the turban landed on the desk in front of the shopkeeper. "Does that look right?" He bent over to pick up the fruit with his hand.

The man nodded, very slightly. His eyes were wide.

"Okay. Good." Julian approached the desk. _I'm going to need you to forget the last…hour. You took a nap._

The shopkeeper nodded, looking dazed.

Laura picked up the box of condoms, tucked it into her pocket. "I will go make sure they have returned to their room."

"Be right up." Julian looked at the last items in his hands, shaking his head. Where the fuck could Alice have gotten these? The breakfast bar? He headed down the hallway and entered that room.

"Oh sweet Jesus." He stared at the damage. Claw marks on the walls, ripped paintings, pillows and sofas in the lounge area completely shredded. The breakfast bar was slashed in half, and a bowlful of fruit was lying shattered on the floor. After a few moments he got to work, walking around the room and restoring things. But that didn't make him feel at ease. A lot of people had witnessed the pandemonium. And reported it. Cops were on the way. And child services. They needed to get out of here. _God. Fucking. Damnit._

After a few more brain wipes, he was back in the elevator. This time, the ride passed by quickly, since he was busy buffing out the claw marks with his mind. How the fuck could bone claws scratch _steel_ up like this? The doors opened and he stomped down the hallway, dragging his fingers along the wall and erasing the marks, ready to tear the girl's collective heads off.

He reached their room door and found it smashed in, the hinges still hanging on the frame. "You've got to be kidding me."

Laura appeared in the doorway. "They took your order to return to the room within one minute…very literally." Her voice was flat.

Julian closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He stepped in, reassembled the door behind him, then moved down the hall to the confront the perpetrators.

The girls were sitting on the bed, in a neat row.

"Our orders were to return to the room in one minute!" Betty exclaimed, seeing his displeased expression.

Julian folded his arms.

Alice fidgeted. "Does it want suggestions for how to beat us?"

"No, stupid, of course it does not." Gabby shook her head, as if she was disappointed in her sister. "It is a telepath. And a telekinetic. It will most likely torture us in our minds."

"Oh no!" Alice gave Julian a wide-eyed look. "Wait, how? A bad memory?"

"I do not know how mental torture works." Betty paused. "Maybe a time loop. Or it might just drop us out the window. _That_ would hurt."

"We would explode when we hit the ground," Gabby added. "It would be more practical to make us self-punish. But there is always the risk that we do not punish ourselves hard enough."

"We would need a tarp." Alice paused. "Self-punishment is always messy."

Julian gazed at the girls, his expression softening. "No, stop. No one's getting hurt. That's not how we do things out here in the real world."

Betty looked at him. "What is the 'real world'?"

He sighed. The girls were like one giant question. "You're not in the facility anymore. Everywhere outside that…is the real world. The rules are different here. You gotta play along, get used to it. There's no punishments here."

"Oh." Betty frowned. "Can we return to the facility?"

"It already said no!" Gabby hissed. "Pay attention, 'six. You reflect poorly on _all_ of us…and we are not all as stupid as _you_ are."

Betty's chin trembled.

Julian rubbed his face. "Gabby, stop calling me 'it,' that's rude. And stop being a dick to your sister. No one's stupid." Pause. "All of you are supposed to be using your new names, like Laura told you. No more number shit."

"Rude?" Gabby frowned.

"Dick?" Betty looked intrigued.

"Number shit?" Alice's forehead wrinkled.

Julian sighed, then sank down to the floor and folded his legs under himself. "First of all, I'm not an _it._ The proper word is _he._ Or _him._ Second, don't talk like I'm not here. That's what I mean by rude."

The girls stared at him. "Why?"

"It's…something you don't want to be." Julian paused, wondering how the hell _he_ had ended up, here, now, lecturing three little girls on how not to be rude. "Trust me. If I tell you something's rude, don't do it anymore."

Gabby raised her hand. "You just told us not to use that word."

Julian paused, trying to figure out what word she meant. "When you're talking about someone, don't use that word. It's fine to use the word "it" otherwise."

"Oh." Gabby looked fascinated. "What else is 'rude'?"

Laura leaned on the hallway wall, watching as Julian began coaching her clones on all the social skills she had struggled so hard to learn, and had not yet entirely mastered. Her eyebrows drew together. For a moment, she wondered why he had never helped _her_ this way.

"You're lucky I was able to fix all the damages." Julian gave the girls a serious look. "We don't have money for that kind of…stuff."

" _We_ have money!" Gabby sounded proud.

Betty beamed. "I took…it…from the preparations room, when we passed it. It…was always helpful on our missions before."

"It…helped us to avoid drawing attention." Gabby sounded proud.

"Attention is bad." Alice.

The girls shuddered.

Julian looked at them, his forehead wrinkling. "Then why did you run screaming and looting through the lobby, _drawing attention_?"

Betty shrugged. "We thought this was our new base of operations."

"We are not used to so much space." Alice paused. "We—"

Gabby chimed in again. "We have not killed today. Or had torture. Or practice. We need to exercise _somehow_."

Julian shook his head. "Okay. Whatever. You three, you stay absolutely still as we pack. And then—"

Betty raised her hand. "Can we breathe?"

"Or blink?" Gabby added.

"You should ask about swallowing, too." Alice whispered this.

Julian closed his eyes. "Yeah. Just don't leave the bed." Pause. "Wait a minute. Do any of you need the toilet?"

Three hands shot up.

Julian pointed at the bathroom door. "Go, right now!"

They all slipped off the bed and started running to the bathroom, hitting each other as they piled up in the doorway.

"One at a time!" he clarified. Then he looked at Laura. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head.

"Don't worry. I took care of everything." He grinned. "But we need to get out of here before the cops figure out which room we're in."

She nodded.

He sighed. "What'd I do?"

Laura said nothing.

"Come on." He gave her a flat look. "It's hard enough when other girls do this. With you…I'm _never_ going to figure it out if you don't tell me."

The girls exited the bathroom. Laura's eyes slid past his shoulder.

Julian looked too, and his forehead wrinkled. The girls were chewing something.

"What?" He stopped Betty with a hand on her shoulder. "What—what are you eating?!" he demanded. He knew it was Betty, because she was constantly thinking it in the back of her mind, very loudly, in an effort to remember.

Betty's eyes widened, and she stopped chewing. "Nutrients." Then she opened her mouth and showed him.

"It is chicken." Laura paused. "They are eating chicken."

Julian leaned forward and examined the contents of her mouth. It did indeed look like chicken. "You didn't kill that, right?"

"No, i'… wa'ahre'y 'ead." Betty spoke with her mouth open.

Julian gazed at her. "Close your mouth."

Betty's mouth snapped shut.

He shook his head. "Where'd you get that?" There was no chicken in the buffet. And certainly not in the bathroom. "Did you leave the hotel?"

"We di' no'." Betty swallowed. "There was some confusion about whether or not we were allowed to leave the bed, at first." Betty shrugged. "But we eventually agreed that as long as we stayed within the confines of the hotel, your order to "stay close" was obeyed." She paused. "When you did not wake us up at oh-four-hundred hours as we are used to, we assumed you were dead or incapacitated, and that we needed to fend for ourselves."

Julian glared at her. "Then where did you get the food from?" They'd gotten some groceries last night, but he knew for a fact that they'd eaten it all, every last crumb. Alice had stuck her head into a plastic bag while trying to lick the crumbs out.

"We needed nutrients." Betty paused again. "Sixty-four…Gabby…found a manual for the hotel room, and we ordered something called room service." She looked pleased. "A male human brought the food into the room for us. It…was most convenient."

"We put the cart in the tiled room, since it seemed the most logical place to consume nutrients." Alice spoke in a soft voice.

"Afterward, we decided to explore our new environment." Gabby paused. "We _did_ think it…was an odd place to be our permanent base of operations, but…" she trailed off.

Julian relaxed, looked at Laura. Then he tensed up again, remembering this was a bill he would have to pay. "Bring me the receipt. The slip of paper."

Betty nodded and disappeared to the bathroom.

He forced himself to relax. Nothing else had gone that terribly wrong. So the girls had ordered some room service. How bad could that be?

"Here is the record of the nutrients we ordered." Betty was holding a receipt the length of her torso.

Julian's eyes widened, and he grabbed the bill, then looked at the total. "Fifteen hundred dollars? _Fifteen hundred dollars?_ What the _hell_ did you order?"

Laura made a soft noise.

Betty shrugged. "We tried everything. Three orders of everything."

"Oh my god." Julian rubbed his face with his metal hand. "This—just _what?_ "

The girl frowned. "I do not understand. Were our choices displeasing?"

"Fifteen hundred dollars of displeasing." He crumbled the bill, gritting his teeth. "You guys seriously need a lesson in money."

All three girls scrambled to his feet and kneeled.

"We are ready." Betty gave him a serious look, her eyebrows squeezed together, her mouth pressed into a line.

"We are prepared for learning." This was from Gabby. Her expression was equally serious. "Commence the lesson."

Julian gazed down at them, his anger melting. "It was just—aw, look. Get up. I'm not sure how much you know about money…but you need to be _careful_ with it, okay? It doesn't grow on trees."

Alice looked doubtful. "But money is made of paper. And paper comes from trees."

Julian gave Laura a flat look. "Your turn."

"I do not understand why you are concerned about the bill." Laura raised an eyebrow. "You said Frost is paying for this."

"It's not about that." Julian frowned. "They should learn to be responsible with money."

Laura was still not sure why this was important to him, but she did not think they should waste time. "Gabby." She looked at the eldest clone, her eyebrow raised. "You announced earlier that you have money?"

Gabby scrambled to the side, and pulled out a Ziploc bag from beneath the bed, then threw it at Julian.

He caught it, and his forehead wrinkled. "There's like…thousands of dollars in here."

"Yes, one hundred thousand dollars." Betty paused. "That will be sufficient?"

"Should do it." Julian looked at Laura again. "I'll go settle up for the food bill. Can you pack?"

"Yes." She made to move past him.

He touched her arm, and when she looked around, he leaned forward and kissed her. "We'll be fine. Okay?"

Laura closed her eyes. "Okay."


	25. Chapter 25 - Who's Handful?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Haha yes, floof chapters. I can't promise all the chapters going forward will be floof, as Julian and Laura still have some massive challenges ahead of them. But the girls are certainly going to lighten some scenes up. I answered most review questions privately, except: what comic arc is this story in? It's currently between arcs, running on original content. Since about chapter 21 or so. There are a few comic inspired arcs coming up, though. In terms of the greater scheme of things, this is all taking place in the X-Force era, before the X-men move to Utopia. As to Laura joining X-force...keep reading :)

Also, shameless self promotion: just published a new Helix Julian/Laura story, "Custody," link on my author page because I can't write it here.

* * *

CHAPTER 25  
 _Who's Handful?_

* * *

Julian watched as the X-wing descended on the gravel rooftop, the wind it manufactured causing Laura's hair to float for a moment.

He felt greatly relieved, knowing that they weren't alone anymore. If Kimura randomly showed up, he wasn't sure what he would have done. His gut said _anything,_ but his brain knew better. His anything wouldn't be enough. His anything hadn't even slowed Kimura down. Granted, he'd been tired when they had clashed in the facility. But he didn't want to have a showdown like that again. Not when they were in public. With the girls to worry about. Sure, they healed quicker than usual, but he doubted they could survive _that._

He suspected Laura was worried, too. She hadn't said much this morning. Which wasn't unusual, considering she never spoke anyway. But there was something about the set of her shoulders, the way her eyebrows were drawn together, that made him think something was on her mind. Kimura was a likely topic.

The side door opened, and Logan jumped out, followed by James and Josh. No one else. His forehead wrinkled. Where were Cess and Santo?

"Kid." Logan paused, stared at Laura for a moment, then swept her in for a hug, his usual scowl softening for a moment. "Been a while."

Julian looked down, blocking out the sudden, probably unintended rush of thoughts Logan was projecting. He was curious, but it didn't seem like something he should be listening to.

Laura said nothing, but she returned his hug.

"And _you._ " Logan looked at Julian, his arm still around his clone's shoulders. "The hell happened? You becomin' Xavier or somethin'?"

Julian frowned. His hair was growing back, but it wasn't even a buzzcut yet. "No, someone tried to take my brain."

Logan grinned. "They succeed? Can't tell."

"Heh." James.

Julian rolled his eyes. "No, I cut the asshole's throat with his bone saw before he got anywhere."

Laura glanced at him.

"That was my other guess." Logan patted Laura's shoulder with one hand, putting a cigar in his mouth with the other. "Your friends all wanted to come. The big rock kid…the metal girl…bunch of others. Thought we'd keep it small for now."

"Laura!" Josh threw his arms around her, grinning. "Oh man, it's _so_ good to see you."

Laura returned this hug as well, her eyebrows drawing together. "You as well."

"What the—" Logan had caught sight of the girls, in the background. His jaw dropped, and his cigar fell to the pavement. He looked at Laura, then at the girls, then at Laura, then at Julian, seeking an answer. There was the slightest hint of accusation in his gaze.

Julian shrugged. "Your grand-clones."

"Oh wow." Josh stared at the girls too.

"…" Logan's forehead wrinkled. "Well, _shit._ Ain't there enough of me already?"

"Apparently not." Julian nodded to the girls. "Get up here and introduce yourselves. _One at a time."_

There was a flurry of motion. Then Betty strutted up to Logan.

"Hello, Weapon X. I am X-66." She paused, then poked his arm, her eyes widening. "You _can_ tell it is full of adamantium! The skin is all strange."

"I wonder how much it weighs." Alice murmured this. "I mean, how much him weighs…?"

"Introductions are _not_ to be performed that way anymore, Six—Betty." Gabby folded her arms, and glanced at Julian. "Are you displeased with…with she?"

Julian gazed at Logan. "They need some English lessons…mostly on how to distinguish people from objects."

Logan closed his eyes.

"They're kinda cute." James was grinning.

"What're their names?" Josh.

"Introduce yourselves." Laura paused. "With your new names."

The girls spoke all at once, sounding very anxious to please her.

"…one at a time." Julian frowned. "They're _really_ literal."

"Betty!"  
Logan winced at the high-pitched exclamation.

"Gabby." Gabby raised her chin. "I am the eldest."

Alice looked down. "Alice." Her voice was almost a whisper.

"Good." Laura nodded approval, folding her arms. "Board the jet."

"We require more nutrients." Betty reached up and tugged at Julian's sleeve. "Can we have those round things?"

He paused. "Huh?"

"They are round. And floppy." Betty paused. "And…brown. And come with sweet, colorful things, and—"

"Oh, pancakes." Julian's forehead wrinkled. How could they already be hungry again? Betty was watching him expectantly. "Uh…I guess. But it'll be dinner when we get there. And that's not really dinner food."

Betty wrinkled her nose. "What is a dinner? Julian, I want to know. Tell me _now!_ " The last part of this had the tone of an order.

"Silence, Six—Betty!" Gabby's voice was firm. "Commence self-punishment. Level one."

Betty looked at Julian. "Should self-punishment commence?"

"Is there a tarp? A tarp is recommended. There will be a mess." Alice grimaced. "Messes are bad. They attract attention. Not attracting attention is still an objective, correct?"

Laura closed her eyes. "Silence. Board the jet _, now._ "

Just then, the X-wing, having not detected activity for a while, went into auto cloaking mode. The jet seemed to shudder, then disappeared.

The girls dropped into a crouch, all three popping their claws at the same time.

"It is a telepath!" Betty snarled. " _Kill it!_ "

"Cannot smell it anymore!" Alice shouted, panicked. "Telepathic compromise!"

"Stab all around!" Gabby barked. "It will show itself eventually!"

Before anyone could react, the girls split up, going in different directions.

"Shit!" Julian threw himself after Betty, and hit the ground, hard. He was confused, since no one had ever managed to escape him charging at them. Yet there Betty was, whipping around the area the jet had been, shredding her claws along the underside.

James was running after Alice, and Laura was trying to stop Gabby, but neither had succeeded yet, the girls slipping away like they were made of greased lightning. Josh was backing away, his eyes wide.

"STOPPPP!" Logan roared, popping his claws.

The girls froze, all in attack poses. Betty was doing a handstand.

"Someone call Bastion and tell him he can quit." Josh sat up, having been knocked over when Betty ran right over him. "These _kids_ are going to finish us off."

Julian pressed his face into the gravel.

"Flamin' hell." Logan withdrew his claws with a _Snakt._ "It's like they're god damn spider monkeys."

Laura was regaining her composure, clearly not having expected to be defeated by her own clones. "You are…very bad." She knelt beside Gabby. "Never do that again, do you understand?"

Gabby looked down.

"Aw, c'mon." Julian frowned and picked up Betty, who maintained the handstand pose, her eyes wide and her lips pressed into a line. "You can relax now." He looked at Laura. "Go easy on her. They didn't mean to misbehave."

Laura said nothing, but got to her feet.

Logan picked up Alice. "Ever been on a jet, darlin'?"

Alice looked at him with wide eyes and shook her head.

* * *

Laura gazed up at the big brick school. Her third time, returning to this place. Despite her doubt and concerns about whether something like her should still exist, she felt slightly less apprehensive than when Logan had brought her here on his bike. Now she had good memories here. Moments where she had begun to be involved.

Julian reached out and put his arm around her, absent mindedly. She studied him out of the corner of her eye, her eyebrows drawing together. He was so different from the boy she had met in the rec room. Then, he had been loud. Competitive. He had been fighting with Surge, something he did a lot at the time. But he had also seemed so enthusiastic about his training, about his friends. Now, he was quiet, serious…

A metallic blur burst out of the front door and slammed into Julian, forcing him backwards a couple of steps. "You're _back! OHMIGODIWASSOWORRIED—"_

Julian gritted his teeth. " _Cess_ —we _talked_ about this." He managed to get his hands free and shove her away. " _Normal_ hugs, or nothing at all."

"Sorry." Cessily beamed, retracting her arms and then giving him what Laura assumed was a "normal" hug. "I'm _so_ happy to see you. And—" she realized who was standing beside them.

" _LAURA!"_ She shoved Julian away like he meant nothing. "Oh. My. GOD! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! AREYOUOKAYDID—" her arms were wrapping around Laura multiple times. She suddenly understood what he meant by a "normal" hug. But she was not going to protest.

"I am fine." Laura hugged her friend back, closing her eyes. "I missed you, too." This was true. She had thought of Cessily often over the past few years. She was among her happier memories of the school.

Cessily started to sob. "I can't believe you're h-here…Laura we looked for you…and then…I g-gave up…for a while…I'm so, so sorry…I…but we both wanted to be there for—"

"Hey X!" Santo boomed, appearing in the doorway and waving. "Can I have a turn now, Cess?"

"When I'm done!"Cessily snapped, squeezing Laura tighter.

Julian shook his head. " _Cess._ Come on, she's not a _thing._ "

Reluctantly, Cessily let go and let Santo give Laura a big hug, folding her arms and tapping her foot. "He gave up looking for you sooner than _I_ did." She mumbled this under her breath.

Santo ignored her. "Knew you'd come back! You shoulda seen how much ass we kicked for ya at the first lab, when we were lookin' for Jules. It was crazy…we got to fight with _Wolverine,_ but I guess that ain't nothin' new for _you_ guys, huh?"

Julian shrugged. "First time's always special."

Laura frowned. "Is Sooraya here?"

Cessily's eyebrows drew together. "No, she left the school about six months after…after you did, Laura. She was looking for her mom."

"Did she find her?"

"Her grave." Cessily frowned. "She calls us every now and then. I think she's doing okay…she found some relatives, and she's going to university." She paused. "I miss her."

"Maybe now that you're back, she'll come back too." Santo grinned. "Then it'll be just like old times, right Jules?"

Julian shoved his metal hands in his pockets. "Something like that."

Laura raised her eyebrows. His scent had changed, and the set of his shoulders was stiff. He was uncomfortable. Why? Did he not like his friends anymore?

"Laura?" Another familiar voice.

Laura stiffened slightly, her eyebrows drawing together. "Nori."

Nori walked up the path and gave her a quick hug. "Good to see a face returning instead of going, for once." Her voice was serious.

"Thank you." Laura eyed her, uncertain. Nori had never been that friendly to her in the past. She glanced at Julian.

He was looking back toward the landing pad, where Logan and the others were now emerging with the girls, all of who had fallen asleep.

"What—are those _kids?!_ " Cessily gaped at Laura. "Are they _yours?!_ "

"My…sisters." Laura paused. "Excuse me." She headed down the stairs again, her eyebrows drawn together.

Logan grinned at her over Alice's head. "Get to say hi to your friends?"

"Yes." Laura paused. "I can assist with the clones now."

"I got it." He hefted Alice up a bit. "This one's pretty easy goin'. Had Elixir take Betty, seems she's the feisty one of the bunch."

"Ow!" Josh yelled in the background. "Hey! _She stabbed me!"_

"So? Heal yourself up and quit your whinin'." Logan winked at Laura.

"Heh." James put down Gabby, who had also woken up and was clearly eager to walk on her own. "They're going to be a handful, that's for sure."

"Who's handful, though?" Logan raised his eyebrows. "I'll help for damn sure, but I can't be watchin' them every second. I got…responsibilities."

"Mine." Laura paused. "They are my clones, not yours. I will teach them."

Julian folded his arms, but said nothing.

Catching a familiar scent, Laura froze and looked at the door, her eyes widening slightly.

Emma Frost was walking down the stairs toward her, white cape fluttering in her wake. Her eyebrows were drawn together. For a moment, Laura felt the urge to back away. But Frost threw her arms around her in a tight hug. "Laura…I am so very glad you are with us again." Frost drew back and studied her expression, then sighed and looked down. "I know I was…harsh to you the first time. I was wrong, and although I had reasons, they do not excuse my actions." She paused. "But I hope that perhaps you will give me another chance."

Laura hesitated. "Perhaps."

Frost's eyes shifted to the girls. "My, you must be Laura's sisters. Please introduce yourselves."

Laura watched as her clones went through the process of explaining their names, and Frost's polite, warm response. Her smile seemed genuine, and although she had seemed threatening in the past, she decided that the woman was not so now. A little of her comfort, perhaps, came from the idea that Julian's eyes were also trained on Frost, watchful but not guarded. He was a telepath now, he had said. He should be able to tell if she was causing her clones harm.

"Laura!" Cessily grabbed her arm. "I mean—I know the past few years were awful for you…not that they were great for me either…but that means we have a lot of time to make up, right?" She beamed.

Laura smiled slightly. "Okay."

* * *

Approximately twenty minutes later, she was following him down the hall, toward the dormitories, holding Alice's hand. Betty and Gabby marched along beside her, obeying their orders of "be silent" very well. She did not want them to always be quiet, but right now, she needed to refamiliarize herself with their surroundings, and it would be easier to do that if they were not speaking constantly.

"Here." Julian had stopped in front of a door. He twisted the doorknob and pushed it open. "You and the girls can have this. There's two beds…one should fit them, for now."

"Go sit on the bed." She said this to the girls, then looked at him. "We should be pursuing Kimura right now."

"Tomorrow." He paused. "Need to take care of ourselves first."

Laura hesitated. "Okay."

He grinned at her. "Okay."

She gazed at him for a moment, her skin starting to tingle. Then he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Laura looked at the girls sitting obediently on the bed. "You may speak."

Three hands shot up.

"This structure is made of _stone._ " Gabby's eyes were wide.

"So destructible." Betty. "Even dynamite would destroy it."

"Explosions are nice." Alice.

"Alice, that is an onion, not a fact." Betty's tone was severe.

"The word is _opinion_." Gabby paused. "But yes, Alice. Commence self punishment. Level one."

Alice's eyes widened. "Ooooh-ohhh—" she looked up at Laura with wide eyes, clapping her hands over her mouth, then moving them slightly. "Is there a tarp?"

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She knew this concept was not correct, but it was something she was still learning herself. She frowned. "You do not need to punish yourselves anymore."

"Should Kimura be fetched?" Betty asked.

Laura shook her head. "No one will punish you out here. There will be no more punishment. Kimura was wrong to ever do so."

The three girls gasped.

" _X-23_ must self-punish!" Gabby squealed. She hesitated. "Level two."

"The tarp will need to be much larger." Alice murmured this.

"I…no." Laura closed her eyes. "I want you to understand this. To learn it. _Kimura is wrong._ Everything she has ever told you, or done to you, is wrong." She paused. "She is a monster. A target. Nothing more."

Silence.

"The thought has occurred before…that Kimura is the one that should commence self-punishment." Betty, her nose wrinkled.

Gabby and Alice gasped.

"Good." Laura paused, the corners of her lips turning upward. "You are learning quickly."

Betty beamed.

* * *

After supervising the girls' new nighttime ritual of teeth-brushing and dressing, and after tucking them tightly into the bed and witnessing as they fell asleep, Laura repeated her actions of last night, closing the door softly behind her, walking down the hallway, and pausing at Julian's door. She hesitated for a moment. _Snkkt!_ She slid her claw through the lock and pushed it open, to find him in the middle of pulling on a t-shirt.

"…" Julian raised his eyebrows. "Do you _ever_ knock?"

"Yes." She paused. "Sometimes."

He closed his eyes, then reached out to the door. _Click,_ as he did something to the lock. Possibly repairing it. "In the future…do. I wouldn't even have to get up to answer it."

Laura perched on the corner of his bed and surveyed the room. "You have rearranged the furniture."

"Since the last time you creeped in here to watch me sleep? Yep." He paused. "Had to hide that big ugly plaster patch-job on the wall _somehow._ "

She stood and moved toward the door. "Goodnight."

"Wha—where're you going?"

Laura felt a tug around her stomach, and a few moments later she was standing in front of him, still surrounded by the glow of his energy. She raised an eyebrow. "You do not want me in your room."

Julian raised an eyebrow, too. "When did I say that?"

She paused, then began to look down.

He caught her chin with his finger, leaned closer. "Relax. I was teasing you."

Laura glanced at him, then closed her eyes. She was not certain what he meant by this, but she was beginning to no longer care about the conversation, her skin beginning to tingle and burn. Soon, they were kissing. Clothing was removed. He turned off the lights with his mind. She lost track of time at one point, too occupied with the things he was doing to her body. He used his powers this time. She sank her claws into his headboard and his mattress several times, but he did not seem upset, only tightened his metal fingers around her. When she achieved the purpose of the activity, there was a moment where she was uncertain of what she was doing. When her mind cleared, she found she was biting his neck. And had gutted his pillow. Feathers were drifting in the air like snow.

 _Snakt._ She released her hold on him, and drew back. "I am…sorry." Her voice was barely a hoarse whisper. Had she forgotten to breathe? For how long?

"I'm not." He kissed her again.

She pressed up against him, closing her eyes. She liked it best when they were joined like this. When the tingling had stopped, and she could focus on him. And when he was quiet, using his actions, his touches to communicate, instead of words. When she knew that he was focused on her.

He ran his hands down her sides. "We should get some sleep."

"Okay." She paused. "Julian?"

"Yeah."

"…" her eyebrows drew together. "I am...glad you are not dead."

He smiled sleepily. "Thanks."

She kissed him again, trying not to think about tomorrow. And then, even though she did not think she would be able to sleep, she did.


	26. Chapter 26 - You Have a Choice Now

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews! :) Hope you all continue to enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 26

 _You Have a Choice Now_

* * *

"Huh?" Julian sat straight up in bed, looking at his dresser. "Oh."

Laura opened her eyes and blinked against the bright sunshine pouring in through his blinds. At some point last night, he had fixed the pillow, and it was now tucked under her head. She watched as he bit his lip, his eyebrows drawing together. She suspected he was communicating telepathically. Then he closed his eyes and bowed his head. She could hear his heart rate increasing slightly. She propped herself up on her elbows. "What is it?"

"Nothing." He hesitated. "Uh…" Pause. "I need to help with something."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "You said we would find her. Today"

"We will." Julian paused. "There's a situation. Summers asked me to help. I'll be back soon."

Laura raised her eyebrow. "Situation?"

"Yeah." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I should be back soon."

"…" She gazed at him, her upper lip curling slightly.

"We'll make plans tonight." He paused. "Come back to my room. Okay?"

She gazed at him. "What is the situation?"

His eyebrows drew together again. "Nothing."

"You are lying." She sat up. " _What situation?_ "

Julian closed his eyes, then got out of bed and began pulling his clothes on.

"I am coming."

Now he turned around. "No."

"Yes." She threw off the covers and began to get dressed as well. "What is the situation?"

He shook his head. "Stay here."

"No."

He was pulling on the same outfit he had worn when he rescued her. The grey and black suit. "Yes."

"No."

" _Yes._ " He finished zipping up the front, then looked at her. "Laura, I'm not joking. You can't come with me. That's final."

Laura paused. "Cyclops issues your orders?"

Julian also paused. "No." But she could tell he was lying. His scent changed, and his eyes shifted for a moment.

She stomped out the door before he could close it.

"Laura!" he called, following her down the hall. "Where do you think you're going?"

She ignored him, pausing by Cessily's room and knocking on her door, which Cessily answered very quickly. "Will you supervise my clones for a while?"

"Don't do it!" Julian folded his arms. "She's—"

"Uh…what is going on?" Cessily frowned.

"Be quiet." Laura looked at Cessily. "I have an errand."

"O—kay." The metal girl nodded. "I'll keep an eye on them for you…what do they like?"

"I do not know." She paused. "Perhaps they will enjoy _Lost._ "

Cessily's eyes widened. "Ohmigod! _Laura!_ You are _so_ far behind. Like—"

"Later." Laura smiled at her slightly, then turned and started down the hall again, Julian close behind.

"I am _not_ letting you come." His voice was sharp.

Laura raised an eyebrow. "You cannot stop me."

He grabbed her hand. "Listen to me. I don't want you wrapped up in this shit."

She gazed at him coolly but said nothing.

"…" He closed his eyes. "Laura, _please…_ " his voice was a little softer. "You've been used enough already. Just don't get involved, okay?"

She freed her hand from his grip and took off down the hallway again.

Julian gritted his teeth, and followed. She marched up to Cyclops's heavy oak door and twisted the knob without knocking.

Cyclops looked up from his table, startled. "Hello, Laura—"

She raised her chin. "What is the mission?"

"She's not a part of this!" Julian snapped. "Tell her to go away. Or I won't help."

Cyclops raised his eyebrow, gazed at him for a moment. Then at Laura. Then at him again. "Actually, we need all the help we can get. And Laura might be a little more suited to this particular task than you are…so if it's going to be a choice—"

Julian smashed the chairs in front of his desk with his mind, and planted his metal hands on his desk, then fixed Cyclops with a glare. "That's BULLSHIT."

Laura was surprised by his reaction, but even more so by Logan appearing in the door.

"Kid."

Julian turned, and glared at Logan now. "She's _not_ part of this!"

"Agreed." Logan paused. "But we don't got time to fight about it. We gotta go. _Now._ Or there ain't gonna be somethin' to be part of, period."

Julian looked at Laura. "Your funeral." He sneered at her, then stomped out of the office, tearing out chunks of the doorframe with his mind as he went.

All were silent for a moment.

Cyclops cleared his throat. "She'll need a uniform." He glanced at Laura. "I think there's a spare that'll fit her, in the storage on the X-Wing. That'll have to do for now."

Logan looked at Cyclops. "I said okay to this one, Cyke, coz my hands are tied. But the kid's right. She ain't part of this." He paused. "You try to make her be…"

"And you'll what, Logan?" Cyclops leaned over his desk. "Stab my eyes out? Go ahead. You know what I'm fighting for."

Logan wrinkled his nose. "No. I'll tell Emma what you been up to."

Cyclops paused. "Go ahead."

"Glad Jean's not here to see this." Logan looked at Laura. "Well, then, come on. Come find out what you signed up for."

* * *

Laura smoothed the grey and black outfit over her skin, then picked up the mask. This was black, with red lenses to cover her eyes, and an adjustable strap. Her eyebrows drew together. Usually she did not wear anything on her face, but she had seen Logan put a similar one on a few moments ago, so it must be important. She lowered it onto her head, pulling the band taut, then stepped out from the small storage nook and approached an empty seat behind Josh.

He was talking to James. "I don't get why Vanisher isn't taking us."

"He's in the middle of running intel with Dom." James frowned. "How would it look if he just ported out like none of that mattered?"

"I guess." Josh grimaced. "But this is…like, this could be _bad._ "

"So could _that._ " James glanced back at Laura. "Everything fit?"

"Yes." Laura paused. "Who is Vanisher?"

"This grade A jerk teleporter that reluctantly helps us out." Josh grinned. "Half out of self-preservation…and half out of self-preservation."

"Heh." James pointed his thumb at Josh. "He put a tumor in his head so he'd help us. Made it X-shaped and everything."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "Like when you killed Stryker."

"Not quite. I don't even _know_ what I did to Stryker." Josh paused, then his eyes widened. "Oh shit! You probably don't know he's alive again!"

Laura raised her eyebrows.

"Shut up!" Julian yelled from the front of the jet. "She's _not_ a part of this!"

"But…" Josh's forehead wrinkled. "Then why is she here?"

"Ignore him." Laura's eyebrows drew together. "What is the situation?"

"She's on a need-to-know basis, Elixir." Logan's voice was calmer than Julian's, but full of warning. "And she don't need to know details."

Josh gave Laura an apologetic look. "Sorry. I do what he says."

Laura closed her eyes, her lip curling.

They arrived at their destination soon. She noted that Julian seemed to be landing the plane himself, smoothly, with little assistance from Logan. He had not even known how to control an aircraft the last time she had seen him.

"Alright." Logan unbuckled himself and turned around to look at their passengers. "We're on a schedule here. Remember…we can try, but ultimately this ain't a recovery mission. Likely, most we can do is contain the damage."

Josh raised his thumb. "I'll just be hanging out by the jet, minding my own business as usual."

"Hell no." Logan glared at him. "You're front line, center. Up to you to heal."

Laura leaned forward. "Who is the target?"

"Never you mind." Julian got out of his seat and headed for the door. "I'll be ready if he fails. You all can focus on the Queen. Come _on,_ Josh."

Josh sighed but did as asked. "Healing _sucks_." He mumbled this under his breath.

"Let's go." Logan motioned for the others to follow.

Laura raised an eyebrow as she undid the buckle of her seatbelt. Clearly, they were here for a target. The X-men did not kill, as far as she knew. Was _this_ what Julian had been doing, the last few years? But he had been so against it before.

The sun was high in the sky. They walked out across a lawn to a courtyard, toward a large gathering of people, with signs. Laura could hear a woman speaking through a bullhorn. "This is what's at stake! Our future! Our way of life! _This_ is what the mutant threat is! And Graydon Creed is one of the few brave enough to _do_ anything about it!" She paused. "He's one of the few who will stand up to them. He's been targeted by mutants before, but he won't stop fighting for you. When he arrives, he'll tell you about the Friends of Humanity himself."

"Way of life!" the crowd chanted.

Laura watched her companions, her eyebrows still drawn together. Was Creed the target? She thought he was already dead.

James touched the hilts of his daggers. "You see her yet?"

 _Her._ Laura raised her eyebrows. They were not here for Creed, then. She glanced at Julian, who had landed at the other end of the crowd, with Josh. They were watching the woman on the platform. Julian's forehead was wrinkled. For a moment, she felt slightly uncertain about insisting to come. He seemed so angry. The air around him was slightly hot, shimmering.

There was a noise from the edge of the rally. Movement. The crowd was parting, as a young woman staggered through, letting off a stream of bright pink smoke.

Julian and Josh were running forward. The latter grabbed the woman's hand, encompassing her with a golden glow, but then he fell down, and she staggered onward.

"Shit." Logan paused as he looked at Julian in the distance. "Dammit! He said he it's not workin'. Move out!" He began running, toward the girl. As did James.

Laura took a different route, toward the center of the rally, where she predicted the woman was stumbling toward. As she neared, she could hear her words.

"Help me…help me…it's inside me…" The woman fell to her knees, rubbing her face with her hands. She smelled strangely sweet. " _Please…_ please…I can't fight it anymore…"

 _Snkkt!_ Laura skidded across the cobblestones as she dropped to her knees in front of the other woman. _Shlunk!_ as her claws stabbed through the underside of her jaw. The tips emerged from the back of her head.

The woman's eyes closed, and the smoke began to caught her body by her shoulder, her eyebrows drawing together. What had been wrong with her? She was about to retract her claws, but Julian was suddenly beside her.

"Don't pull your claws in!" he shouted, grabbing them, one in each hand.

"What—" Laura began.

His fingers began to glow.

So did her claws. "AHHGHH!" Laura struggled, but he held on tightly for a few moments more. Her claws made a sizzling sound, turning orange. "Ahhh—" she finally succeeded in pulling away, glaring at him through tears of pain.

"Sorry." Julian frowned. "I had to sterilize them."

"…" Laura flexed her fingers and rubbed her wrist. Her claws were still hot, so it was still smarting. She glanced at his hands, which had been cut in the process. The metal was slowly healing itself, the gashes filling in. Perhaps it hurt. She looked at him again. "What was she infected with?"

"Legacy virus." He got to his feet, then offered his hand to her. "A mutated strain that causes you powers to overload."

Even though she did not need his help, Laura remembered that he did not like it if she refused, so she took his hand and pulled herself up, then looked around her, at the people still clapping and cheering as Creed spoke. "There are hundreds here. Perhaps a thousand."

"Yeah." He paused. "Logan and the others are trying to grab the person behind this. We know who it is, but her mind's all jumbled up, so we don't know everything."

She hesitated. "What _do_ you know?"

Julian looked irritated again, for a moment. Then he closed his eyes. "Come on. We need to find the others."

* * *

Logan shook his head. "She's long gone."

"Her mind was seriously messed up." Julian paused. "She kept asking me to kill her, but when I tried…nothing. Just like Stryker."

Laura tilted her head.

"She smelled like tech. I think she's Bastion's lackey now." Logan folded his arms. "God dammit. I thought we had all the Legacy recovered."

"Apparently not." Josh frowned. "That was…that stuff kicked my _ass._ And if they had _one_ sample—"

"They have more. They'll do it again." Julian shook his head. "And again. But why? What does Bastion gain from all of this?"

Logan paused. "Distraction. That's what he's gettin'. He knows we're not goin' to let innocent people die…he's keepin' us busy with appetizers, while he cooks the main course."

"Yeah." Julian sighed. "So…we better check in with Summers, right?"

"Yeah. Get on it, kid."

Julian was silent for about half a minute. "Cuckoos say…the Friends of Humanity are receiving threats, for all over. Summers wants us covering three locations."

"Could be what Bastion wants." James frowned. "Split us up and pick us off."

"Hmm." Logan paused, considering this, then he shrugged. "Cyke's show. Back in the jet, people."

* * *

Laura gave Julian a surprised look as he sat down beside her.

He pushed up his mask. "Are you feeling okay?" His eyes were searching her face, his forehead wrinkled. He was concerned.

She pushed up her mask as well, her eyebrows drawing together. "I am fine."

"Do you feel funny at all?" Julian paused.

Laura gazed at him. "I said—"

He looked at Josh. "Give her a heal."

"I think she's okay, Julian. She'd be sweating by now." Josh leaned over the back of his seat and reached out his hand. "But, y'know, never too safe."

Laura touched her fingertips to his. There was a brief golden glow.

"Nope, she's clean." Josh grinned. "And, might I ad, _damn_. You saved all our asses today, Laura. That was amazing."

Laura said nothing.

Julian's lip curled, and he looked at her. "Laura…you can't be part of this."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why are _you_ part of this?"

"Ohh man." Josh grimaced. "This sounds like a private moment. Mind not having it, like, two feet away from my face?"

Julian ignored him. "I'm doing what I have to do." He paused. "But _you_ don't have to do this. And you've got the girls to think about now. What if something happens to you?"

Laura said nothing, looked out the window. She had just killed a woman, barely more than a _girl,_ who was a victim. It reminded her of the village. Why did Julian feel he had to do this? And what other kinds of things had he done for this team?

* * *

Julian was looking over the growing crowd, or so she assumed since she could not see his eyes behind his mask. He had not said a word since their argument in the jet, but now he cleared his throat. "If it happens here, it's going to be rinse and repeat."

Logan had suggested that James go with her, but Julian had ignored him, pushing James away and stomping after her into the courtyard. Laura was not sure if this would end up being a strategically sound choice. They seemed to fight well together, but right now, he was quite obviously distracted by her presence. Her forehead wrinkled. "Rinse and repeat?"

"Never mind." He paused. "Look, don't do that again, what you did at the first rally. Your healing factor won't keep you safe against this. Just let me handle it."

Laura gazed at him, but said nothing.

He sighed, pushed up his mask. "Laura…why are you doing this?" His tone was softer than before.

Laura raised her mask too. "Because you are doing this."

"I know you think you have to defend me. Like you used to, in the Danger Room and stuff." He frowned. "But I can take care of myself now. I know how. You don't _need_ to be here." Pause. "I'll be fine without you. We'll _all_ be fine."

She raised an eyebrow.

He sighed. "Look. The girls need you…but also, you _just_ got you out of the facility. You shouldn't have to do stuff like this anymore." He paused. "You're free now. You can do something else. You have a choice now."

"I am made for this."

"Don't say things like that."

"It is true."

"No it's not." He gritted his teeth. "You're more than what they tried to make you into. You're…you're _you._ "

Laura rubbed her arm, her eyebrows drawing together. Then she pulled down her mask again. "I do not want to talk about this anymore." She paused. "We should concentrate on the mission."

"Sure." Julian's voice was flat.

"You approximated fifteen minutes." She paused. "It has been seven. I will take the north side."

"Alright." He shrugged and pulled his mask down too. "If nothing happens, meet back here."

"Yes." Laura looked down, as he walked away. She did not like what had just happened, but her resolve was not weakened. If he had to be a part of this team to accomplish a task, then she had to help him do it, so he would be finished sooner. Whatever this was, it was hurting him. She began to walk in the opposite direction.

* * *

The rally was more or less the same as the first one: hundreds of people chanting and cheering and clapping as a man began speaking in an excited tone about the benefits Graydon Creed would bring them. Laura scanned the crowd carefully, but she could not really detect anything. There were too many people for her senses to truly be effective. Scents were becoming muddled. So many heartbeats. Usually, she tried to tune out her senses when she was in a crowd, so she did not become overwhelmed.

Then—suddenly—she smelled it. A whiff on the breeze. From the southeast. She began to run, her eyebrows drawing together.

She saw the crowd was parting. A figure was burning. A figure wrapped in fabric bandages, which quickly disintegrated to reveal a skeleton at the center of the fire. It took several swaying steps. "I'm burning!" It screamed. "I'M BURNING! HELP ME! SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME!"

 _Snkkt._ Laura popped her claws, but she knew she would never reach the individual in time. Julian was already there, grabbing the skull in his metal hands, but he was too late to stop it. The wave of fire was beginning. She shielded her eyes.

There was shouting all around her. Panic. She ran toward the scorch marks, pushing people out of her way as she caught sight of a metal hand. For a moment she thought there was nothing attached. No, Julian was there, lying face-down on the bricks, but his skin was badly burnt, black and smoking in areas. And cracking. Beside him was a pile of bones, all that remained of the flaming skeleton. He must have contained the fire.

Laura dropped to her knees beside him. She could not hear a heartbeat, so she rolled him over and began chest compressions. She had seen him heal himself before. If she could get his heart to beat again, perhaps he could repair this damage, too. "Julian!"

No answer. She closed her eyes, pinched his nose, and blew air into his lungs. Then he gasped, his eyelids starting to flutter. His lashes had been burnt off.

"Heal yourself!" She ordered.

"Wha…" he gave her a blank look. He was in shock.

Josh was too far away. Without intervention, he would die soon, and she would probably not be able to resuscitate him. She grabbed his hand and pressed it against his body, as she had seen him do in the facility. "Do it!" Her voice was sharp. "Concentrate on your skin. _Now._ Seal it."

His eyes closed, and he sighed, but then his fingers began to glow green. She sat back on her heels, watching as some of the larger cracks began to close. He would still need Josh's help, but she thought that he might have a chance now that the deepest cracks had been bonded.

"Good." She frowned. "Tell Logan that you need immediate healing."

"…yeah…be soon..." He made a wheezing noise, made a motion as if he was trying to sit up. "Did…"

Laura pushed him down. "Yes. You saved them. Do not struggle." She tilted her head, listening.

"What?"

"Sirens." She looked at him again. "Can you cloak us?"

"I'll just…get up." Julian started to struggle again.

"Stop." Laura frowned. "You are making the damage worse."

"…cool…" Julian's eyes began to slide shut.

She shook his shoulder. "Stay awake." She took his hand. It was still hot, from the explosion. The sirens were almost there. "Focus on masking our presence."

"…got it…" he mumbled sleepily.

An ambulance was quickly approaching, along with a fleet of police vehicles. Laura rose to her feet. _Snkkt!_ Just in case he failed in masking their presence, and she needed to protect him. But the people getting out of their vehicles did not seem to notice her. They were examining the scene around her, the scorch marks on the cobblestones, the charred pile of bones. She was not sure how long it had been by the time the X-wing landed, in the distance. She was about to tell Julian that help had arrived, but a police officer grabbed her arm.

"Hey! Where'd you come from?!"

"…" Laura looked at the woman, then at Julian. His heart was still beating, but his eyes were closed. He had passed out.

"You're under arrest!" The woman started shoving her down. "Don't _move_ , do you understand me?!"

Others were noticing.

"Hey! We got them!"

"They're wearing some kind of uniform!"

Laura closed her eyes as her hands were yanked behind her back and cuffed. She could break them easily and run away, but she was not willing to abandon Julian, nor did she want to risk damaging his body further by moving him. He might have spinal injuries or broken bones that could become internal puncture wounds through movement. Similarly, she did not want to risk drawing gunfire while he was unconscious. She doubted that anyone would listen to the truth, that he had _saved_ everyone. She had no other choice than to comply and hope the others arrived quickly.

"He needs medical attention." One officer kneeled beside Julian. "Wonder how he made it. At this range…you think he'd be toast."

"He's one of them." Another officer sneered. "Let him die."

Laura gritted her teeth, but said nothing. The jet had landed about a mile away. Logan should be able to cover that ground in six, perhaps seven minutes if she accounted for his metal skeleton. Josh and the others might take longer, given their slower metabolisms. It had been approximately three minutes since the jet landed. Her eyebrows drew together.

"Let's take her in. She can fill in the blanks."

"I will tell you what you want to know." Laura paused. " _If_ we remain here."

"You don't have a choice about this!" the officer who had made the mutant comment yelled, glaring at her and pointing at the pile of bones. "Just like you didn't give _them_ a choice!"

Laura's forehead wrinkled. Julian must have masked everything from the crowd, including the flaming skeleton. She thought for a moment. "I will only speak if we remain in this place. And if no one touches my partner."

The officers looked at each other.

"Let her talk." This was the officer who had suggested the medic. "We end up being here five, ten minutes…no skin off our backs." He paused, looked at Laura. "We're going to need you to come in for the confession, though. We need recordings."

Laura frowned. "Yes." Now she was faced with the task of speaking for the next five minutes. She closed her eyes, bowed her head. "At approximately nine-forty-five this morning I awoke." She spoke slowly. "The weather was clear and the temperature was fifty-seven degrees Fahrenheit. I—"

"Get to the point!" the more aggressive officer snapped.

Laura glared at her. "I will, but you must have the events in context, or the story will not make sense." She paused. "As I was saying, at approximately nine-forty-five this morning I awoke. Perhaps it was nine-forty-six, but that is a trivial detail. The weather was clear and the temperature was fifty-seven degrees Fahrenheit. I awoke in an eastward facing room, so the sun streamed through the blinds. It is possible this is why I woke, but—"

"She's just wasting time! She's stalling!"

"The voices in the hall may have been the reason." She paused. She was leaving the realm of truth, but conveying the truth was not the object of this exercise. "There was arguing. Loud arguing. Two men. Something about a plan."

"What did they say?"

Laura shuddered. "May I have a blanket? I think I may be in shock. I was also near the blast."

The calmer officer nodded to the officer who kept yelling at her. She scowled but stomped off, presumably to find one.

"And some water?" Laura added, as soon as she was sure the woman was out of earshot.

"Wells." The officer spoke into his radio. "She needs water, too. Should be a bottle in the trunk. Or in the ambulance." He nodded to her. "Go on. You were talking about two men arguing in the hall this morning."

Approximately two minutes left. Laura cleared her throat. "The first man asked the second to reconsider the specifics. He thought that the…do you hear that?" She paused. "I think my ears are ringing. I am dizzy, may I sit for a moment?"

The officer nodded.

She sank to her knees. "Thank you. I will try to continue. The first man was upset. He said that forcing us to come along would cause problems with—"

She heard motion, and looked up to see Logan, Josh, and James running down the long brick pathway to the courtyard, pushing bystanders out of their way. The jet must have landed closer than she thought.

The officer saw this too, and raised his radio. "Guys, we have—"

"…nothing…" Julian whispered this from the ground.

Laura closed her eyes in relief.

The officer lowered his communication device again, and walked away, frowning.

She snapped her handcuff chain with a quick, firm yank, her adamantium reinforced bones exerting more force than the steel could stand.

"Holy shit!" Josh reached them, dropped to his knees and started healing Julian. There was a soft golden glow, then the latter sat up, looking as if nothing had happened, except for his scorched and tattered uniform.

"That _sucked_." He paused. "But I also got to hear Laura deliver a _monologue,_ so…"

"I caught the end of it myself." Logan patted her on the shoulder. "Quick thinkin'."

"Yes." Laura folded her arms, and raised her eyebrow. "I would like to leave now."

"Good job, kid. You saved a lot of lives. But…" Logan gestured at the scene around him. The ambulance. The police cars. "We still failed. This is gonna have repercussions like you won't believe."

"Yeah." Julian's eyebrows drew together. "I just couldn't stop it. And there's no sense in trying to erase their memories…there's dispatch records and—"

"No one's sayin' you should. Or blamin' you." Logan paused. "Queen's long gone. We better get the hell out of here."

* * *

Laura had forgotten the conversation she and Julian had earlier, but it came back to her when he ignored her on the jet. When they reached the school, he quickly disappeared.

After a quick shower and changing, she headed over to Cessily's room to pick up her clones, but she stopped in the hallway, realizing that she could not hear anyone inside. She decided to try downstairs, and as she headed down toward the rec room, she could hear her clones breathing, and a familiar _clank-clank-clank_ sound effect. The "Smoke Monster" from _Lost._

"AHHHHHGHHH!"

"IT IS GOING TO KILL IT! WHY IS NO ONE—"

 _Snkkt! Snkkt! Snkkt!_

"No no! It's just acting, no one's dying! Put those things away girls!"

 _Snakt. Snakt. Snakt._

"Laura is here!" Gabby announced. Three sets of running footsteps, then a mass of clones hit Laura's legs and wrapped themselves around her knees, all talking excitedly at once.

Laura closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"One at a time!" she ordered.

"Intelligence was gained that…you…were involved in an explosion, is this true?" Gabby.

Laura's forehead wrinkled. "Yes, how did you learn that?"

"By sitting outside of the Cyclops's office while Weapon X reported to it." Betty. Pause. "Many strange words were exchanged. What is a 'flying fuck,' X-23, and how is one 'given'?"

She paused, but was spared having to answer by Julian's arrival. The whirling mass of clones let out a collective shriek and transferred to his legs, almost knocking him over.

"Arrgggh—one at a time!" Julian swept them backward a few feet with his mind. "You guys are worse than Cessily and—"

 _WHUMP!_ Cessily was wrapping her arms around him several times, yelling something incoherent about explosions and being "beside herself with worry." Laura watched as Julian struggled to extricate himself.

He finally succeeded in pushing Cessily back, and he glared at her, then the girls, then Laura. "Stop it! All of you!"

The latter raised an eyebrow. "I did not touch you."

Julian ignored her, looked at the clones again. "So, you didn't get pancakes yesterday, do you—"

The hallway filled with a frantic chorus of "YESYESYES" which only seemed to increase in volume. He grinned.

"Pancakes?" Cessily perked up. "You do know I make like the best blueberry pancakes, like, in history, right?"

He patted Cessily on the head. "Sounds like you have a chance to redeem yourself."

She glared at him.

He slowly withdrew his hand. "Er…go make pancakes for this group of starving children?"

Cessily rolled her eyes and looked at Laura. "Julian wouldn't know what the word 'please' was if it bit him in the ass."

"How can a word _bite?_ " Betty asked.

"What does 'please' mean?" Alice.

"What is an 'ass'? Is it a physical location? And what is its function?" Gabby.

"So many questions." Julian ruffled Betty's hair. "Come on, let's go help Cess."

* * *

Laura eyed the door in front of her. _Snkkt!_ She began to slide her claw into the crack between the door and the frame, then paused, remembering his request that she knock in the future. Her eyebrows drew together. _Snakt!_ She raised her hand and rapped her knuckles against the wood softly so that she would not dent it.

He answered a few moments later, his eyebrow raised. "Yeah?" His tone was stiffer than it had been when they were with her clones.

Laura paused. "I…" A few moments passed, and no further words came. She looked down, frustrated.

"Come back when you know what you want." He started to close the door.

She shoved her boot in between the door and the frame. He looked down at it, raising his eyebrow, then at her.

She reached up and kissed him.

"Mmmph." He pulled away, his eyebrows drawing together. "Laura…I don't think this is a good idea."

Her eyebrows drew together too.

He frowned. "Not right now, anyway."

She tilted her head. "What will change?"

"Huh?"

"You said not right now." Laura paused. "How will another time be different?"

Julian closed his eyes. "Maybe it won't be."

Laura looked down, then nodded curtly, and walked back toward the room she now shared with her clones, her knuckles itching. She knew his anger was over their earlier conversation, but how could he still be resistant to having her on the team? She had shown her utility today, eliminating the first target, and saving his life on the second. If anything, it had proved his claims about being able to take care of himself to be false, and reaffirmed her thoughts that he should not be a part of this team. Perhaps she would speak with Cyclops, ask if she could take his place, permanently. Perhaps—she paused.

His door opened, and then he walked out into the hall. "Laura."

She turned, her eyebrows raised.

"I…" he looked down. "Come here."

Laura gazed at him. "You do not want me to."

"I said I wasn't sure it was a good idea." He paused. "Not that I don't want it."

"There is a difference?"

"Almost always." He grinned slightly. "Come here."

* * *

"I love you." Julian mumbled this into her hair, his arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

Laura closed her eyes, and pressed her ear against his chest, listening to his heart beating, trying not to think about the moments in which it had stopped. Twice now, that she knew of. "No."

"No?" He shifted slightly, looking down at her.

She hesitated. "You will leave me."

"I'm not going anywhere."

She said nothing.

He rubbed her shoulder. "I promise."

She thought of bringing up his earlier promise to find Kimura, but her eyelids had grown heavy. Soon she was asleep.


	27. Chapter 27 - I Do Not Want to Talk

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the reviews as always, hope you all continue to enjoy! :)

* * *

CHAPTER 27

 _I Do Not Want to Talk_

* * *

"AGHH!"

Laura scrambled upright, startled awake by the shout beside her. The room was still dark. It was sometime in the early morning.

Julian was twisting in the sheets, his face contorting like he was in pain. "…nono…not again…please…"

She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Wake up."

"I tried…" he shoved his face into the pillow and mumbled something. She could not make out what it was.

She shook him. "Julian. Wake up."

"—I _burned_ it and it's still—" his hands began to glow.

"Wake up!"

"Nnngg…" the glow was creeping up his arms. "…can't…lose…more…"

She thought he might be about to cause an explosion again, so she slapped him.

"Wha—" his eyes snapped open, and for a moment she thought he might attack. Then he seemed to focus on her. "Huh…Laura?"

"You were dreaming."

"Oh." His eyebrows drew together. "Okay."

Laura hesitated. "What was the dream about?"

"Don't remember."

He was lying, but she did not press him further.

* * *

Next, she opened her eyes to the sound of scuffling. Sitting up, she saw that Julian was slipping on his uniform, his back toward her. Then he reached down and slowly pulled up the front zipper. Quietly. He was planning to sneak away.

Her eyebrows drew together. She could protest, but he would get angry. Instead, she closed her eyes again until he had left the room, then quickly pulled on her own makeshift uniform and crept down the hall after him.

She waited until the door of the headmaster's office had closed before rounding the corner and pressing her ear against the door. She did not need to do this to hear the conversation, but she wanted to hear their vital signs too.

There were seven people in the room. Julian, Logan, Josh, James, and Cyclops. The other two she did not recognize: a male, and a female. She knew all this by scent and by heartbeat, as each pattern was distinct, beating on its own set rhythm, having started at different moments in time.

She also knew that Logan was aware of her presence. She heard the slight creaking his adamantium rib cage made on inspiration pause, probably so he could confirm that she was outside the room. But he did not say anything, so she remained in place.

"So, what's the problem now?" Julian's voice was full of irritation.

"Always seems like there's _some_ kind of problem, doesn't it?" The unidentified female.

"Tell the bad guys to quit it." Logan folded his arms. She could tell by the dual _creak_ of his elbows. "I know I could sure use a breather."

"I promised Laura we'd be hunting down Kimura." Julian did not seem to appreciate their somewhat casual tones. "I don't understand why she's not priority number one. We _know_ she's working for Bastion—"

"Hold on a tick." Cyclops sounded calm. "I think you'll want to hear this."

"I got the info you all wanted, can I _go_ now?" The unfamiliar male. His voice was nasally and rough at the same time, and he spoke quickly.

"Uh, _no,_ you can't." Josh.

"Says _who?!_ " the man demanded.

"The tumor he put in your head." James. "Probably."

"Yep." Josh.

"Can it." Logan. His voice was sharp now. "Work to do, people."

" _Work._ " Julian, under his breath. He sounded angry.

"We've got someone out there using my face." Cyclops paused. "Donald Pierce."

"…" Logan shifted. "You wanna explain that a bit more clearly?"

"He's got an image inducer. And he's been using it to cause all sorts of trouble."

"Like?" Julian prompted.

"Making deals. Aiding in unsavory activity. Misleading our kids." Cyclops paused. "As in, several of our students. Making them kill for him, to try and regain his place in the Hellfire Club. And he's caused a few of _their_ deaths so far."

"How's that different from the _real_ Summers?" Josh mumbled.

Julian coughed, probably to conceal the noise of amusement he had made.

Laura pressed her fingers against the wall, her eyebrows drawing together. She knew he had once objected to killing. He had been disgusted by it. But now, he did not even seem bothered by it. He had taken down as many soldiers as her in the facility. He had tried to kill the Legacy victims himself. According to Josh, Cyclops had made him a killer. This confused her. Julian was stubborn. Argumentative. Idealistic. What had happened to make him agree? And since when did the X-men start to kill?

"Go ahead and laugh." Cyclops paused. "One of the students is your friend, I believe. Dust. Sooraya Qadir."

Pause.

"What the fuck?" Julian's voice was sharp.

Laura held her breath. Not Sooraya. Not her friend. She closed her eyes, feeling them burn. Out of everyone at the school…even though Cessily and Santo—and Julian—were very, very important to her…Sooraya was the only one who had ever truly understood her and the difficulties of not fitting in. Who had understood that words were not always necessary.

"No, she's not dead." Cyclops paused. "Now. During the fight with Pierce, when he revealed himself, she was turned into a crystalline structure and shattered…but another student helped her reform. She's since disappeared. I think she may have gone after him, for revenge. I brought it up to make you realize how close to home this is."

"Yeah. I know Pierce." Josh's voice was quiet. "He's an asshole."

Silence.

"It's fine if I sit this one out, right?" the unidentified male voice asked. "I have no beef with Pierce. He's taking you guys out before you can turn into little shits who blackmail me. I want to shake his hand— _mmmph!"_ He made a choking noise.

"Damn, that's a lot of blood." The female voice. "You probably shouldn't do whatever you're doing."

"MMMM-MMMM!"

"Okay kid, I think that's good." Logan sounded amused. "Elixir, give our ole' friend Vanisher here a heal. Can't have the transport bleedin' out." Pause. "You got the cords?"

"Yep." Julian still sounded angry. "Someone else might want to give them to Porter, though. I might accidentally kill him if I get near his brain again."

"Heh." James.

 _Paft!_ Josh was healing Vanisher. "There you go. Good as new. Except for the 'inoperable mass' of course."

"Fuck you!" Vanisher spat. "Fuck you all! You're all absolutely insane! Cyclops, you're just going to let them keep _butchering_ me like this?!"

"Well, you _did_ try to establish yourself as a super villain. And then you were a mercenary who was willing to unleash the Legacy virus on us all for a quick buck." Cyclops folded his arms. Laura could hear his joints creak, less loudly than Logan's, bonier, but still audible. "So, I kind of find it hard to care about your wellbeing."

"GRRRAAHHHH!" Vanisher sounded anguished.

"Okay. Enough screwin' around." Logan was pulling down his mask. "Let's get those coords loaded in his skull and get to it. We got a blond robot to kill."

Laura pulled her mask down as well, then opened the door. She looked at Vanisher. He was a little taller than Logan, with a bald, waxed head, and many tattoos in various patterns. One was a broad stripe that encircled his head.

He scowled at her. "Oh great, there's _more_ of you! What the fuck do _you_ want?"

"What— _no._ " Julian shoved Vanisher out of his way as he moved toward her. "You stay right here. After yesterday, I can't believe you would—"

Laura glared back at him. "Sooraya is my friend too."

His gaze wavered slightly. "Yeah, but—"

Laura looked at Vanisher again. "When you teleport them, take me with you."

"I'm not taking anyone anywhere!" The man gritted his teeth. "I helped you with the last two things, because as much as I hate you guys, I don't hate _myself_ and I knew that virus couldn't get out. Now…I have no reason to stick around."

Josh raised his eyebrows. "Uh, how about the tumor in your head?"

Vanisher shrugged. "Doctors said I have about a year. Better than _this_."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She looked at Cyclops. "He is a mercenary, correct?"

He nodded.

"Has anyone tried offering him money?"

Silence.

Laura looked at Vanisher again. "I have approximately one hundred thousand dollars. I will give a portion of it to you if you continue to assist this group, as long as your services are needed."

"No!" Julian was shaking his head. "That money belongs to the girls."

"…are you fucking shitting me?" Vanisher stared at him. "You and creepy girl have _kids?_ "

"I can make that amount twenty times over in minutes." Laura paused. "Vanisher, do you accept the arrangement or not?"

"…" Vanisher paused. "You just said you can make…what...two mill in minutes?" He folded his arms. "Coz that's my price for participating in whatever the hell this is. Two mill, even."

"Absolutely no—" Julian began, but Laura held up her hand.

"Yes, agreed." She frowned. "I will pay you at the end of your services."

"No way!" Vanisher glared at her. "Now, or I scram."

"He's going to scram anyway." Josh, his tone full of warning.

"One hundred thousand now, the remaining one point nine million upon the completion of our agreement." Laura tilted her head. "Do we have a deal?"

Vanisher rubbed his chin. "You have to get the gold punk to heal the tumor, too."

Laura looked at Josh. "Elixir, heal him."

"But then we have no hold on him!"

"I like creepy girl." Vanisher paused. "Creepy girl gets me. She knows you catch more flies with honey. My jobs pull in one, two hundred k at a time. But two mill…I could finish renovating my Tokyo hideout." He smiled dreamily. "I'm inlaying the bannisters with gold."

"You are one _weird_ dude." The unidentified female mumbled this.

Logan glanced at her, as did Laura.

She looked unusual, with skin so pale it was white, and a black tattoo around her left eye. Her dark hair was cropped to around the length of her chin. She was well armed, with two pistols on her hips, an ammo belt, and a machine gun strapped over her shoulders. What made Laura pause and examine, however, was that she could tell Logan was attracted to her, by the slight elevation in his heart beat when he glanced at her.

"I have hobbies! That doesn't make me _weird,_ it makes me _normal_." Vanisher extended his hand to Laura. "We have a deal."

Laura shook it briefly. "Elixir. Heal him."

Josh closed his eyes. "I already healed the tumor a _long_ time ago."

"…" Vanisher's lip curled. "What?! Are you—"

"Be silent." Laura looked at Julian. "Get the money. And ask Cessily to watch the clones."

He glared at her, but then he left the room.

Logan folded his arms. "How'd you get that much money?"

"Gabby took it from the facility." Laura paused. "I will give it back to her later."

"And you can really just make two mill in a couple of minutes." The unidentified female folded her arms. " _Damn._ Who's your contact? I want in."

Laura raised her eyebrows. "I do not need one."

"Shit, you like a death machine or something?" she pressed.

"That's enough, Dom." Logan paused. "I guess I should introduce you guys. Laura…you know that sack of shit over there calls himself Vanisher, but this here's Domino. She's got luck powers or somethin'." He paused. "She's not so bad."

"Hi." Domino looked at Logan. "What's she to you? Daughter?"

"Sister." Logan said this before Laura could say 'clone.'

She raised her eyebrows.

The door opened again, and Julian tossed the ziploc bag to Laura. "Still think this is a mistake."

Laura took it. "I did not ask you." Then she held the money out to Vanisher.

He took it, a grin spreading over his face. " _This_ is more like it." He shoved it in his pocket, then looked at Julian. "Alright. Coords?"

Julian glared at him.

"Give it to him." Laura's voice was firm.

"He did." Vanisher looked at Julian, grinning. "That how she talks to you in bed?"

"You think about her in bed one more time and I'll make you pay _us_ to help, asshole!" Julian snapped, his eyes flashing green.

"…" A few moments later… _VTT!_

* * *

"Well, this blows." Josh said from the cell across. Beside him, James nodded.

"No kiddin'." Logan paused. "Laura, you oughta have a word with your employee there 'bout his shitty' teleportin'." He was in the adjacent cell.  
"How was I supposed to know this was a trap?! _You_ gave the location to me, it's your own dumb fault." Vanisher leaned his face on his hands, his elbows on his knees. He was in the cell one over from Josh's and James's, on his own.

Laura looked at Julian, who had ended up in the same space as her. "Is your telepathy working? I cannot hear things as I normally do."

"Nope." He paused. "I think our powers are off. I've been trying to bust the lock for a while now, but no go."

She made a fist. _Snkkt!_ "AHHHGH!" Her claws had burst through the skin of her knuckles as normal, along with a shower of blood. Which was not stopping. Only getting worse.

"Shit." Julian grabbed her wrist, peered at the cuts. "Damnit. We have to stop the bleeding."

"After." Laura freed her hand, then jammed her claw into the lock of their barred cell door. "NNGGNNN!" She recoiled, holding her aching hand. "It is…adamantium. I cannot break it." She was afraid to retract her claws. It might compound the damage.

Julian took off his mask and wrapped it carefully around her hand, his eyebrows drawn together. "Don't pop any more claws."

"I was not going to." Laura paused. "Thank you."

He nodded slightly, then turned away.

"Well, looks like we're going to be here a while." Logan's voice was flat.

Domino leaned against the cell bars. "So, what's your name, kid?" She nodded to Julian. "We've been so eyeballs-deep in shit up to this point that I don't think I caught it. Mine's Neena."

He leaned back on the wall, folding his arms against his chest. "I don't want anyone here to know my name. Seeing as I don't trust some of us even the _slightest_ bit." He was glaring at Vanisher.

Laura raised her eyebrows.

Vanisher seemed undisturbed. "I'm Telford."

"Josh." Elixir paused. "I think."

"You _think?_ " Logan grunted.

"Well, no one calls me that anymore, even when we're not on the job…so I'm not really sure." Josh's voice was flat. "You just throw me at broken things and order me to fix them. Actually…if Vanisher's getting a paycheck…why can't _I?_ I'd love a PS4."

"Because you're not a villain?" Julian's lip curled.

"Oh. Right." Josh sighed. "I might rethink that."

"James." James frowned. "So…how are we going to get out of here?"

"Think we're goin' to have to wait a tick for Pierce to come gloat." Logan paused. "Which he will. He always drops by to gloat and tell us his evil scheme. Maybe it's a program or somethin'. We'll roll with it then."

"Sounds like a plan." James glanced at Josh. "Always had you pegged out as an Xbox kid, for some reason."

Josh scowled at him.

* * *

Laura was walking down the dimly lit corridor. It seemed to go on forever, stretching out into the distance as far as she could see. Which was a very long way.

To either side of her were cells. Metal cell doors. All was silent. Her heart, her breathing, were the only sounds.

And the smell. Laura knew she would never forget that smell. She had no words to describe it. She did not want to think about it. But she knew what it was.

The scent of ninety-seven of her clones slowly decaying.

Laura awoke with a start. She had not realized she had fallen asleep, but apparently, she had, her head resting on Julian's shoulder. He was awake, his eyes half-lidded, the corners of his lips pointed downward as he thought about something.

She moved her fingers carefully, and her eyebrows drew together at the fiery stab of pain. She was used to being injured…but this was different, this pain that did not improve at all. It must be difficult to live without a healing factor.

"Laura?" His voice was soft.

She glanced at him.

"Let me see it." He touched her bandaged hand with his metal fingers.

"I am fine."

He closed his eyes. "Next time, don't come, okay?"

She straightened. "Why?"

"Because I spent the last two and a half fucking years trying to get you out of this stuff." He looked at her again. "You have a chance to do whatever you want now."

"And I am choosing to be here." Laura paused. "As you are."

"I didn't _choose_ to be here." Julian's nose wrinkled. "You think I want to do this shit? To work with people like _Vanisher_?"

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you here?"

He shrugged. "Have to be."

Her eyes narrowed. "Why did you join?"

Julian looked down. "I don't want to talk about this."

Her eyebrows drew together. She wanted to press him for an answer, but how many times had she told him this very thing herself? Eventually, she leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes again.

* * *

"Rise and shine!"

Laura scrambled to her feet. A man was standing in the corridor outside the cells, his hands held behind his back. He had long blond hair tied in a ponytail, and a wide, derisive smile.

"Pierce." Logan growled this. "Get your gloatin' over with, and get to the point. I'm mighty eager to sink my claws into your face."

"You flatter yourself." Pierce paused, looked at Vanisher. "Telford. I am surprised to see _you_ still here. Did you forget your cell would be unlocked?"

All eyes turned to Vanisher.

"…" Logan grabbed the bars of his cell. Laura could see his fingers wrapping around them. "Are you mother fuckin' _kiddin'_ me with this shit?! VANISHER!"

"Okay, okay, we cut a deal!" Vanisher yelled. "But this was back when I thought all of you were assholes. And then creepy girl there made me an even better offer…and, well, I figured you'd all be upset if I just walked out of my cell—"

"No, _now_ we're upset!" Julian glared at him too. "The _second_ I get my powers back—"

"—which you won't—" interrupted Pierce.

"—I'm going to erase your entire fucking mind!"

"My, my." Pierce paused. "One would wonder if my interference with your little dysfunctional team is even necessary."

"Hey, Pierce!" Josh yelled. "Remember _me?_ " He gritted his teeth.

Pierce raised his eyebrows. "No, should I?"

"…" Josh glared at him.

"Heh." James.

"Vanisher." Laura gave him a firm look. "Exit your cell and teleport to the power system for this cell block. Cut the power, including the backup generators. Our deal will remain intact if you assist us now."

Pierce's head whipped around as Vanisher's cell door pushed open, and he burst into motion, but he was too late. _VTT!_

A moment later, all went dark. _Click!_

 _VTT!_

"Done." Vanisher paused. "Make sure no one kills me, okay?"

"No promises." Julian's eyes glowed, and a moment later Pierce was flying backward, making choking noises and glowing. "Going to deal with this clown first, though. Should I fuck up his mind or his body?"

"Mind." Logan growled. "I'll deal with the body."

"I'll just shoot some holes." Domino flicked the safety off her gun.

"Holes are always good." James was sliding out his large hunting knives from their holsters. "Leave _something_ for me."

Laura exited the cell, then froze and looked down the corridor, detecting a familiar scent. But before she could speak, something _wooshed_ past her and toward Pierce. "Shield yourself!" she shouted to Julian.

He did, just as the something warped around him. In the glow of his powers, they could see that Pierce was being engulfed by a swarm of particles.

"Sooraya?!" Julian shouted.

The swarm swept away from Pierce, revealing a metal skeleton. The skull still had two blue eyes in its sockets, which glared at them. "I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!" he screeched, his voice oddly distorted without his throat to dampen it.

Laura was not paying attention to Pierce. She watched as the swarm solidified into her friend, who was clad in her underwear, her face contorted with hatred. She looked thin and there were deep, dark patches of bruise on various parts of her skin.

"He…he…" Sooraya was shaking. "Is he dead? I need to know… _is he dead?_ "

"Give me a second." Julian grabbed the skull with his fingers. A few moments later, Pierce's skeleton sagged, and smoke erupted from inside. "There we go."

"Here." Josh stripped off his jacket and handed it to Laura.

She draped it over her friend's shoulders. "He is dead."

Sooraya closed her eyes, and hung her head.

"Does he have anyone else here?" Julian asked.

"No." She paused. "I came to kill him…alone."

Logan looked at Vanisher. "Get us out of here."

Vanisher said nothing. He was gazing at Sooraya.

"TELFORD!" Logan roared, shoving him. "Get us outta here, before I lose what little patience I have left for you, scumbag! And take Pierce's skeleton—not leavin' that shit lyin' around for someone to reboot."

"Huh—oh, right."

 _VTT!_

* * *

"Cessily had one of your niqabs." Laura held the folded garment out to her friend. "She is…eager to see you. Julian had to restrain her."

Sooraya closed her eyes, then took the outfit. "Thank you."

Laura's eyebrows drew together, but she knew there was little she could do to remedy the situation. Pierce was already dead. The rest would take time. She exited the room and closed the door softly behind her, to find Julian waiting in the hall.

"How is she?" he asked.

"You would know better than I do."

He frowned. "I don't read people's thoughts, Laura. I'm not like that."

She raised an eyebrow. "No, I meant…you are more socially skilled."

"Oh." He frowned. "I don't know about stuff like _this_. I've…I've never been a prisoner." Pause. "You might actually know more about this than me."

Laura said nothing.

"Can Cess see her, at least?" He paused. "She's still watching the girls, but you _know_ that isn't going to keep her away for long. The moment we pick them up, she's going to be banging down the door and giving her that boa-constrictor hug thing she does."

Laura considered this. "Perhaps the distraction will…help."

"Yeah. Let's go pick them up, then."

They began walking down the hallway, toward Cessily's room.

Julian frowned. "Speaking of distractions…I didn't mean for us to get sidetracked from hunting down Kimura."

She tilted her head.

"You said she has a base somewhere in south Asia?"

"Yes."

"How familiar are you with it?"

"Only in passing." Laura paused. "I was not…myself…for most of it."

He closed his eyes. "Any idea of what kind of defenses she would have there? More clones, maybe?"

"Perhaps." Laura shook her head. "But probably not. She hates us."

"Yeah." Julian looked at her again. "How are we going to take her out? I mean…I couldn't even lay a finger on her."

"Yes." Laura frowned. "But she requires oxygen. If you can alter the chemicals in the air, you could probably suffocate her."

"Huh." He frowned, nodded. "Yeah. That could work. But…it's not very satisfying, is it?"

She stopped and looked at him. "Satisfying?"

"She took two yearsfrom us, Laura. _Both_ of us." He stopped too. "Who knows what we would have done with that time. Who we'd be if she hadn't put us through that. She needs to pay." He gritted his teeth. "For that…and for the girls. The ones who didn't make it."

Laura tilted her head. "All that matters is that she cannot cause more damage. I do not care how she dies. As long as it is effective."

Julian gazed at her. "Really?"

"Yes." She paused. "That is my choice."

His eyebrows drew together. Then he closed his eyes. "I'll practice making gas clouds, I guess."

Santo's door opened, down the hall from them. "Dude, did I for real just hear you say you need to practice lettin' it rip _?_ "

Julian rolled his eyes. "Not _that_ kind of gas, Santo."

"Oh." Santo frowned. "What kind?"

"We are discussing how to kill Kimura." Laura.

Julian shot a glance at her. "Laura…" he mumbled.

"Whoa." Santo paused. "Like, kill her, kill her?"

Laura nodded. After a moment, Julian did too.

"Heavy." Santo stepped out into the hallway and closed his door behind him. "But yeah. I mean, you coulda done that a couple years ago when X asked you to, an' spared us all this shit…but you were set on ridin' your high horse."

Julian gave him a flat look, folded his arms. "Thanks."

Santo grinned. "You're welcome. So, when's this goin' down?" He raised a craggy eyebrow. "Not _now,_ right?"

Laura shook her head. "No, we are picking up my clones from Cessily."

Julian frowned, remembering why she had been watching the girls in the first place. "Uh, Santo…you know Sooraya's back, right?"

"Yep." Santo paused. "Figured I'd give her a bit. Let Cess see her first." His tone was casual, but Laura could tell he was concealing something.

So could Julian, apparently. He raised an eyebrow. "So what the hell _is_ going on with you two? You never explained."

Santo shrugged. "Nothin' that interestin', really. We started goin' out a few years back. An' now she can't stand me. Probably took somethin' dumb I said the wrong way."

Julian frowned. "And you didn't tell me this because?"

"Dude, I didn't wanna add more shit to your crap pile." Santo frowned too. "X was missin' and that's what mattered. You were busy."

"Wait. _When_ did this happen?"

"Just after the facility kidnapped her. Cess needed a shoulder, an' mine was free." He paused. "She kinda hated my guts for a bit after things went south, so I gave her some space."

Julian frowned. "Is that why you stopped coming with me?"

Santo shrugged. "Figured you needed her help more than mine." He paused. "I _like_ Cess, but it ain't anythin' like you guys. I mean, you left the school and got into all that stuff with Wolverine an' his team just so you could learn how to bust her outta the facility. That's like…Jean Grey and Cyclops, y'know?"

Laura stiffened, her eyebrows drawing together. Julian had joined the team for _her?_

Julian was still frowning at Santo, oblivious to her reaction. "I wish you would've just _said_ something. Maybe I could've helped…talked to Cess…"

"Nah, didn't want to make things awkward." Santo grinned at Laura. "No one likes awkward, right X?"

Laura was not sure what he meant, but she did not feel comfortable asking, either. "Yes." She resumed walking down the hall towards Cessily's room.

 _She_ was the reason he had joined the team? Was it the reason he had changed so much? Was _she_ the reason? Had she harmed him in even more ways than she had previously realized? Her knuckles began to itch.

"Wait up!" Julian was following her. "Laura!"

She looked back at him.

His forehead wrinkled. "What's wrong?"

"I do not want to talk about this." She paused. "I will get my clones now. Please go and practice your techniques."

"…" Julian stared at her. "Uh, okay…you sure?"

She closed her eyes. "Yes. Go."

"Okay." He stood there for a moment longer, then turned and moved in the other direction. As did she.


	28. Chapter 28 - Hurt

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hopefully this works okay, I am having problems uploading new chapters to the doc manager (even with the copy-and-paste method). I've emailed support to find out what's up. Here is the next installment for Change, hope you all enjoy! The title is both from story content, and also after Nine Inch Nail's song "Hurt" (I believe the Johnny Cash cover of this was used for the _Logan_ trailer).

* * *

CHAPTER 28

 _Hurt_

* * *

"God damn it." Julian pushed up his mask, pinched the bridge of his nose. "How many places could she _be?_ "

They were standing in a night club, the music pulsing around them and the lights flickering. A man was lying on the floor, his glasses shattered and his tie askew. But no one else had noticed.

This was the fifth location in almost two weeks that the team had flown to in pursuit of Kimura. Each time, Julian would do a little mental searching to find the name of a local crime boss, then the team would accompany him as he mentally interrogated that person, in case he needed back-up, or discovered something. Most of the situations had been pretty quiet, but Julian had seen some thoughts in this man's head that had made him decide that he was better off dead. Actually, he wasn't even sure he had consciously decided that. It had just…happened. One moment the man was staring into space, smirking as he recalled his activities last night. And then he had started to choke. Laura had been alarmed by the sudden sound and had punched the man in the face, which was why his glasses were broken.

"It's a big area." James shifted. He was watching with folded arms. "Don't sweat it. We'll find her…just got to be patient."

"Uh…" Cessily. Her eyes were wide, and her eyebrows drawn together.

Julian looked at her.

"Is he…is he dead?"

He hesitated. He had forgotten, for a moment, that he probably shouldn't let Cessily see this. But it was too late.

"Yes." Laura was watching him, too.

He could feel Cessily's shock, her disapproving reaction forming, but he had no idea what _she_ was thinking. Her thoughts were sealed off in her vibranium-laced skull, and her expression was just…watchful. No hint of approval, or disapproval. Or surprise. All he knew was she was looking at him. A couple of weeks ago, that would have been enough. But now…

Cessily covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh my god. _Julian._ "

Julian folded his arms. "He ruined a lot of lives. Ran a mutant trafficking ring. You don't…you don't want to know what his last thought was." He frowned. "I was…returning the favor."

"But—" Cessily looked around at the others. "Guys, why are you not _upset?!_ "

The "others" were Laura, Sooraya, James, Hepzibah and Santo, all of which were gathered in a circle around the body. The other parts of the team—Josh, Logan, Domino and Vanisher—were out investigating a lead on the Leper Queen. But Summers had let Julian take the others out to look for Kimura. She must be a bigger threat than he had previously realized.

Santo nudged the body with his foot. "Jules said he didn't deserve to live…then he didn't." He paused. "I always thought it was kinda stupid to let the bad guys go, so they could just come back again. Kinda like a boomerang, y'know?"

 _"SANTO!"_ Cessily stared at him. "That is literally the _worst thing_ you have ever said! _EVER!_ "

"Cessily." Sooraya hesitated. "There is truth to it."

Cessily looked repulsed. "I..." she looked at Laura, then at Hepzibah. "You too?"

Hepzibah flicked her tail. "Humans are twelfth worlders. I don't really care if there's one less of you." She paused. "Especially if it was a bad one."

James glanced at her.

"…" Cessily fell silent, but her eyebrows were still compressed together in an expression of extreme distress.

"Let's get out of here." Julian started toward the exit, his forehead wrinkled. He felt bad for making Cessily feel this way, but at the same time, he wasn't sorry. He couldn't hold back because of her. Not when they were fighting people that would gladly hurt them if roles were reversed. But he was surprised to see that the others hadn't been nearly as startled as he would have expected. Especially when Sooraya had defended him. He had always been cautious when she was involved, suspecting she didn't approve of him all that much, but apparently he was wrong.

As they headed into the alley where the X-wing was parked and shielded, he glanced at Laura again, his thoughts returning to their earlier topic. If she was anyone else, he would say she had been quiet lately. But this wasn't the right word for it, since she never really spoke much, only as was functionally necessary.

Cold? Distant? Every night, for the past two weeks, she had visited his room as usual, and afterward, he had wrapped his arms around her as usual, his body relaxing like it always did when he was holding her. There had been no change. And yet…he just _knew_ something was off. It was almost painfully apparent to him.

But he had no idea how he was going to get it out of her. It wasn't about the way he had been angry when she joined the team. He had finally accepted it, when he saw Laura walking beside Sooraya after Vanisher had brought them back to the school and realized that maybe she had her reasons for doing this, too. She hadn't seemed angry at him then. It hadn't come until later, when they spoke with Santo in the hallway. It had started then. He had gone over his memories of the conversation with a fine-tooth comb, fully prepared to admit if he had said something insensitive, even if it wasn't intentional. But there was nothing. He had been offering to help Santo and Cessily, so it hadn't even been about her. The only time she had even been mentioned was when Santo brought up the facility for a bit, but he hadn't said anything upsetting, and she seemed fine with Santo.

Julian caught her hand and pulled her back slightly, as the others entered the jet. "You okay?" he murmured.

Laura raised an eyebrow. "I am fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes." She paused. "We did not engage in physical combat, why are you asking again?"

"I don't mean…" He closed his eyes. "Look, we should talk. Later. When we're alone, okay?"

"About?"

"Just…I need to know what's wrong."

"I am fine."

"We'll talk about it later."

Laura said nothing.

He reached up and pressed a panel on the side of the jet. It shimmered back into view, then they climbed in. Inside he paused, then leaned down and kissed her before heading to the cockpit, followed shortly by James.

* * *

Hepzibah sat beside Laura during the flight home, tapping her clawed fingers on the armrest loudly.

Laura finally looked at her. "Stop."

Cessily looked over her seat, interested.

Hepzibah wrinkled her nose. "What do you mean, _stop?_ I can do what I want, my name has three syllables and so I am your superior."

" _Whoa._ " Cessily's eyes bulged. "You going to take that, Laura?!"

"Please, do not encourage them to fight." Sooraya looked troubled.

"What? Girl fight, what?" Santo was looking around his seat too.

"…" Laura closed her eyes. "We are not fighting."

"Because you're afraid of me." Hepzibah flicked her tail. "It's smart to be afraid."

"No, I—"

"Did I _say_ you could talk?!" Hepzibah glared at her.

Laura paused. _Snkkt!_

Hepzibah's eyes riveted to the claws. "Are those adamantium?!"

"Yes." Laura paused. "Now be silent or I will cut you."

"Aw hell _yeah!_ " Santo sounded enthusiastic.

"Just shut up Santo!" Cessily glared at him. "This doesn't concern you in the slightest!"

Julian had gotten up from his seat and was poking his head around the edge of the cockpit. He saw Laura's claws. "What are you doing? Why are there claws?"

Laura's nose wrinkled. "This… _creature…_ is bothering me."

"She has adamantium!" Hepzibah paused. "Can I have some for my shiny box?"

"I don't know, can I kick you out of the jet while it's moving?" Julian's lip curled. " _Both_ of you, stop acting like five-year-old's or you're _walking_ home. Got it?"

 _Snakt!_ as Laura retracted her claws.

Hepzibah folded her arms and flicked her tail. "I will tell James what you said."

"I really doubt he'll care." Julian glared at her one final time, then at Laura, then went back to his seat.

Santo was grinning. "Dudes! That was _awesome!_ You are officially my favorite people!"

Cessily closed her eyes, shook her head.

Sooraya also shook her head slightly.

Hepzibah was still gazing at Laura in admiration. "If I become your life servant, will you bestow a piece of adamantium on me? Perhaps when you die?"

"I…what?" Laura's forehead wrinkled.

"Please say yes! Nothing would mean more to me. I did not know this planet had adamantium." Hepzibah's ears were pricked forward. "I take it back. This is _clearly_ not a twelfth-world. It could be fourth, even a third-world, if it has adamantium deposits."

Santo grinned. "You mean, a third world world?"

"Oh my god." Cessily rolled her eyes.

"Aw, c'mon." Santo paused, looked at Hepzibah again. "You do know her entire _skeleton_ is adamantium, right?"

Hepzibah's eyes bulged. "WHAT?!"

Laura looked out the window, wishing she had never spoken to the strange creature in the first place.

* * *

Laura left the jet as quickly as she could and disappeared into the school. Hepzibah had continued to ask her about adamantium for the rest of the flight, which she had found to be irritating. The alien had enhanced scent senses, but Laura's was still masked by the facility treatment, and so she was able to throw her off her trail quite easily.

Her first action was to collect her clones from Rogue, who had been supervising them in her absence, several times now. Apparently, she had kept them occupied today with crayons and sheets of paper. Laura paused for a moment to think about this. She had never been given drawing implements as a child herself, but she knew Megan enjoyed creating art. Would she enjoy this too?

"Look!" Betty waved a sheet at her. "We have been creating attack diagrams."

"Attack…diagrams?" Laura's eyebrows drew together.

"Ah tried to get them to draw the usual things, like houses and flowers and crap, but they didn't seem interested." Rogue leaned back in her office chair. "But they seemed to be having a good time, so why not?"

"Look at it! PLEASE!" Betty said this latter part in a commanding tone.  
"We have been working on our rudeness." Gabby sounded approving.

"It is difficult work." Alice whispered this.

Laura took the image and studied it, her eyebrows drawing together. "What…what is this?" She was pointing to a green mess of lines, out of which red lines were emanating.

Betty's eyes widened. "It is an attack diagram for Julian! In case it is needed at some point." She paused, and her chin began to tremble. "You cannot tell?"

"…" Laura paused. "I…"

Julian, who had just arrived, also leaned in to the room and looked over her shoulder at the drawing. "What the _hell_ is that?"

"BETTY!" Gabby spoke sharply. "Your rendering skills are not to par! Commence self punishment _immediately!_ Level _two!"  
_ Alice gasped loudly and covered her mouth.

 _Snkkt!_ Betty's tiny claws popped. Tears were running down her cheeks. "I am s-s-sorry for dissap-p-pointing you!"

"Oh mah god!" Rogue jumped out of her chair and caught the girl by the wrist. "No, sweety, don't hurt yourself!" She looked up at Laura and Julian, her expression flat. "Y'all really couldn'ta just pretended it was amazing?"

"…" Julian closed his eyes. "We'll know better for next time. Come on, girls, let's go."

* * *

Laura looked up at the knock on the door. She had just finished assisting her clones with their bedtime rituals and was about to leave for Julian's room, as per routine. But he was outside the door instead. She got up and moved toward it.

"Hello."

"Hey." He was dressed casually: jeans, a t-shirt, and an unfastened jacket. "I know we were going to talk, but Josh invited a bunch of us out for some drinks and dancing and shit, and Cess really wants us to go."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Okay."

Pause.

Julian frowned. "Uh, you're coming, right?"

"No."

"No?"

"I cannot leave my clones unsupervised."

"Sooraya said she'd look in on them. She's not going." He paused. "Come on, I think we both need to relax for a bit."

Laura closed her eyes. "Okay."

"Okay." He leaned forward and kissed her softly for a moment. "Sorry about yelling at you guys in the jet. I just…I'm worried about Kimura, and you…and, well, Hepzibah and her goddamn shiny box."

Laura arched her eyebrows. "Yes." Her voice was flat. "I have heard of it."

"Everyone has." He paused. "You need a bit to get ready?"

"No, I am ready now." She slipped out of the room and closed the door softly behind her.

* * *

Laura sat at the tall table, her eyes trained on scratched surface that supported her beverage, which was a small glass of whiskey. It was very loud in here, and the smell was strong. But she was not focused on this fact. She was keenly aware that Julian seemed to be enjoying himself. For once. He had disappeared into the crowd with Santo and Cessily, the latter shouting that they would be back soon. And he had been smiling. Which he had not done for a very long time. Not since he had freed her from the facility. Her eyebrows drew together, and her knuckles itched.

She could hear Hepzibah saying something nearby. Her words were indecipherable among the loud music and the mixed noises of shouted conversations, but her tone was as critical as usual. James laughed in response.

Laura closed her eyes. She did not know much about relationships, except what Cessily had told her long ago. From what she was piecing together, she sensed that the people involved in them should not be distressed by each other. To begin with, she had actually _killed_ Julian at one point. She had tried again in the facility. Yes, perhaps these things could be overlooked, given that he did not seem to mind his metal hands, and given that the deaths had not been intentional on her part. Witnessing her clones' behavior over the past several weeks had somewhat clarified this for her. The idea that, perhaps, she was not always solely responsible for her actions.

What she could _not_ continue to overlook was that she _was_ solely responsible for his joining the team. She had caused him to become like her. A weapon, who did not care about death. Who killed as instructed. He spent more time with his friends now, yes, but she knew that a slight rift had formed between him and Cessily, when the other girl had realized what he had become. And she could not blame the facility for this. For the ways she had damaged him.

She heard James laugh again, and her claws slid out, under the table. The _Snkkt!_ was lost among the chaos of noise.

"HEY!" a voice shouted. Unfamiliar. In front of her.

She withdrew her claws and looked up, to see a man sliding into the vacant seat across the table. "…"

He had dark blond hair and a pleasant smile. She thought he was around her age, maybe a year or two older. "Saw you sitting alone here, looking sad." He leaned forward. "Pretty thing like you shouldn't be." Pause. "I'm Blake, by the way."

Laura raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"You going to tell me your name, or I have to guess?"

She frowned. "I do not know you, why are you speaking to me?"

Blake grinned. "Well, if you tell me your name, then I'll know you, right?"

She thought about this. "Laura."

"Laura." He nodded. "Old fashioned. I love it. Hey, you wanna dance?"

"No."

"Oh come on. Just one?"

"…" she closed her eyes. "Will you go away afterward?"

"Of course." He slid off the chair and held out his hand to her.

A few minutes later, she was in the crowd, moving with the stranger, not really concentrating. She had received dance training at the facility, as some of her missions had involved targets in night clubs such as this, and so the rhythm was not difficult for her to maintain.

"You're really good!" Blake yelled.

Laura said nothing.

He leaned forward and kissed her very suddenly, slipping his arms around her waist. She stiffened, surprised, but did not immediately pull away. It was…interesting. Different. She had not realized it was socially acceptable to do this so quickly, but it made sense. He was looking for someone to practice coupling with, and this was a very fast way to sample her chemical makeup. But after a moment's consideration, his makeup was not very interesting, and she was about to tell him so when a hand clamped down on her shoulder and pulled her backward.

Julian was glaring at Blake. His hand was smoking against her jacket, the fingers burning through the material.

"Er…" Blake looked at Laura. "You didn't say you were here with someone."

"You did not ask." She closed her eyes, pushed his hand away, then headed for the nearest exit sign, her eyebrows drawn together. She slipped out the door and into an alleyway, then took a deep breath. The cool night air felt good in her lungs, after the heated and odor-filled air of the club.

The door opened behind her, and Julian emerged. He looked slightly calmer now. "Explain. _Now._ Just…what _…why?_ Why the hell would you do that?! _"_

Laura looked down.

"No!" he snapped. "No silent shit. You need to start talking. I turn my back for like five seconds, and you're sucking face with some random asshole?"

She tilted her head, her eyes flitting upward again. "Sucking face?"

He closed his eyes. "Kissing. Laura. You do understand you can't _do_ that with anyone else, right?"

She gazed at him. "Why?"

"…because…" He gritted his teeth for a moment, obviously working to stay calm. "Well, you're with me, right? I mean, you wouldn't like it if _I_ kiss someone else, would you?"

Laura hesitated. She already knew, from experience, that she would not "like" it. She had been about to say so, but then she remembered her earlier thoughts. The ones she had been thinking at the table, before all of this. A few moments passed, then she lowered her eyes. "Perhaps it would be better."

"..." Julian stared at her. " _What?_ "

"I said—"

"I heard you." He paused, his forehead wrinkling. "I just…you can't be _serious_. I _love_ you…and you love _me_ , right?"

Laura hesitated again. To agree with him would seem to support his argument. She regarded him, his expression of confusion. Anger. Waiting for her response. She had never been in a moment like this, where her words alone seemed to have more impact than physical actions. She did know that it was pivotal, like the moment in which she and her cousin had parted ways. Was this the right decision? _Yes,_ she told herself firmly. It was a decision she had already made a while ago, in her cell at the facility. That she would no longer allow herself to harm those around her. To hurt him. "I have never said that."

Julian was silent. But his fists had begun smoking again.

After a moment, she turned and began to walk down the street.

"Where are you going?" he demanded, following her a few steps.

"Back to the school."

"But you came with us."

"I am fine." She paused, looked back at him. "You do not need to be concerned for me any longer."

Julian's expression was one she had never seen him make, not even when she had stabbed him. His eyebrows were drawn together and his mouth trembling. Then it changed. Now he looked angry. Very, very angry. His eyes began to glow, and the air around him was igniting with green fire. "You don't just get to walk away like I mean _nothing_ to you!"

Laura closed her eyes. "You do not."

Silence. She turned away again.

"You just…after all…after all the things I did for you…I gave up my _life_ for you…" Julian's voice broke, and he gritted his teeth. "You know what you are? You're like a _machine._ All you think about is your next target. Well, what you think is going to happen when you run out of targets, huh?"

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She looked down, her eyes burning. He thought this about her? "Please. Stop."

He arched his eyebrows. "But you just said I don't need to be concerned about you anymore, remember?"

She said nothing.

"Have a nice fucking life, Laura." And then he was gone, shooting up in the night air.

Laura watched him for a while, then began walking again.

* * *

Julian was barely aware of the casualties fading around him. He was stretched on his back on the floor, head burning, body aching, blood slowly rolling down from his nose. Was he dying again?

He remembered now why he had never tried to run the Phoenix program. He felt like he had just tried to stop a freight train without his powers. Not only had he failed to stop the Phoenix from killing all the civilians, but he hadn't even been able to defend himself from her attacks. She had taken one look at him, as he charged toward her, and suddenly the green flames around him had been snuffed out. He had never experienced anything remotely close to the wave of energy that had followed. It was like a steam roller, destroying his shield and knocking him backward. Phoenix had been approaching him to do something fatal when he had managed to mumble "End p-program."

Why had he disabled the safety? Things were broken. A couple ribs for sure, and possibly his leg. But the idea of calling Josh, to come scrape him off the floor again, was way too humiliating. And he could do without more of that right now.

He was dimly aware of the doors opening. "What the— _JULIAN!"_ Cessily's voice. Footsteps, as she ran toward him. He could sense that she was worried.

He opened his eyes a crack and looked up at her. "I'm…fine."

"No you're not!" Cessily's voice was sharp. "Call Josh, right now! He's watching TV in the rec room, he can—"

Julian shook his head very slightly. Or tried to. Amid the swell of pain, he realized his neck might be broken. "Fuck." He paused, then wiggled his fingers. Not paralyzed. Good. He raised a hand blindly and clapped it on his torso, wincing, but trying to focus on running his energy through his body. Through his bones, reconnecting the matrices that had been shattered.

A few moments later, he sat up, the pain subsiding. "See? Told you."

Cessily gave him a flat look. "Julian. _What_ are you _doing_ to yourself?"

He shrugged. "Training."

She folded her arms. "Uh huh."

"Really."

"Right." Cessily paused. "I'm sure this has _nothing_ to do with—"

Julian flinched automatically. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

He looked down. "Don't say her name, alright?"

Cessily sighed. "Julian, I love you, but you are so stupid sometimes. You can't just…ignore something like this. This is the girl you—"

"I _know!_ Grrr!" His lip curled. "I'm not _ignoring_ it. But what the hell else am I supposed to do? She just suddenly locked me out of her life. And now I have nothing."

She frowned. "Don't talk like that."

"Yeah, well, what do _you_ think I have, huh?" He glared at Cessily. "I don't have friends, or family, or—"

"What?!" Cessily glared at him. "What about me and Santo? And Sooraya?"

"Oh, come off it." His eyebrows drew together. "You're scared of me. And disgusted. Sooraya's lost in her own problems. And Santo…he just likes to kick back and eat popcorn while watching my life get progressively shittier."

"… Cessily knelt beside him. "You really think that?"

Julian closed his eyes. "I know it for a fact."

She sighed. "For a telepath, you really don't know much about how people _actually_ think, do you?"

"Cess—"

"No." She frowned. "Julian, I'm _always_ going to be your friend, no matter what. That's why I get so worried about you." Pause. "My biggest worry right now is that you're not actually dealing with this break up. You're hurt. You need to talk about it, get your head right. Before _you_ hurt _yourself_ so badly you can't fix it anymore." She paused. "Josh told me what you did yesterday."

Julian's nose wrinkled. "That was nothing."

Cessily raised her eyebrow. "He said you almost picked a fight with _Wolverine._ And that he had to save your ass afterward."

He shrugged.

She sighed, then sat down beside him. "Talk."

"I'm good."

"Well, I'm not. _Talk._ How are you feeling about—"

"I told you not to say her name!" His voice was sharp.

Cessily sighed. "You _have_ to deal with this. Tell me _exactly_ what happened."

Julian shrugged, looked down. "She…just doesn't care about me anymore."

"I want a blow-by-blow replay."

"Not going to happen."

"Well, give me your memory of it then!" Cessily paused. "I need to know what we're working with here."

"Working with?" Julian's eyes narrowed. "Cess, it's _over._ Leave it."

"But—"

"No." He looked away. "I know. You're just trying to help. But…Laura…doesn't want me anymore. And I'm not going to push her into something she doesn't want." He paused. "I think…I think she never even wanted me to start with. She just went with it, because _I_ wanted it." He frowned. "Or maybe she didn't even know what she wanted."

"No, she did." Cessily paused. "I talked to her. She…god, this sounds like a bad romance novel, but she told me she 'burned' when she looked at you."

Julian hesitated, but he couldn't stop himself. "What? Really?" Pause. " _When?_ "

"Uh, a while ago." Cessily frowned. "But that's not the point. She did want you…and I think she still does. But you're right. She needs to figure things out. I mean, think of what she's been doing for the last couple of years. It's not exactly an environment for self-growth." She paused. "And, I mean, neither is _this._ " She gestured around the danger room.

Julian's forehead wrinkled, but he said nothing.

"I know you don't want to hear what I think…but I don't think you should give up yet." Cessily paused. "You're angry. Laura's confused. But don't let that turn you into something you're not. Just…take some time to sort things out. Focus on yourself for a while." Pause. "Maybe get out of here."

"And go where?" Julian asked.

Cessily shrugged. "I dunno. Something that doesn't involve this crazy…thing that you're a part of. Take a break from the whole mutant scene."

He was silent.

"Come on, let's go and do something _fun_." Cessily grabbed his arm and dragged him upward. She was surprisingly strong. "Watch a movie or something. I know Santo keeps talking about _Transformers_."

"I don't feel like—"

"That or we stay home and watch _Titanic._ With Pixie. Those are your options."

"…" Julian closed his eyes. "I hate you."

Cessily grinned and patted him on the shoulder.

* * *

Laura froze, on the stairs. She had just finished assisting her clones with their night time ritual, and was heading toward the front door, when her ears alerted her that Julian was just outside it, with Cessily and Santo. They were laughing about some event they had all witnessed.

She paused, her eyebrows drawing together. She had not seen him in three days, not since he had flown away. And that had been on purpose.

But it would be impossible to avoid him forever. Eventually, they would find Kimura, and she did not think he would remain uninvolved. She was aware that he was still going out on missions. She had overheard Josh and Cessily talking, last night, about his reckless behavior. About how he had challenged Logan's directives.

The front door opened, before she had made up her mind. And Julian was now staring up at her, his smile fading.

Silence.

"Oh, er—hi, Laura." Cessily spoke, her eyes wide.

Laura hesitated. "Hello."

Silence.

"Guess this is awkward for you guys, huh?" Santo. "Since you broke up an' all."

" _Santo!_ " Cessily snapped, glaring at him.

"What?" Santo shrugged. "Just acknowledgin' the elevator in the room."

"…" Her forehead wrinkled, then she grabbed his hand and started dragging him down the hallway.

"Where are we goin'?!" he protested.

"To make sandwiches."

"Oh." Santo paused. "Cool."

They disappeared from view, leaving Laura and Julian alone.

The latter cleared his throat. "Going somewhere?"

"No." Laura paused. "You did."

"Movie." He looked at the step below where she stood. "Girls okay?"

She nodded.

Julian closed his eyes. "Say hi to them from me."

"Okay." Laura's eyebrows drew together. "I have heard…that you were reckless on a mission yesterday."

He said nothing.

She hesitated. "You should not do that."

"Yeah, well, you don't need to worry about it." He paused. "Laura…I don't want to talk to you, okay? I especially don't want you to pretend you care about me."

Now Laura closed her eyes. She said nothing.

He moved toward her, and for a moment, she thought he was going to touch her. She inhaled sharply. But he continued past her, up the stairs.

Laura opened her eyes, watched as he reached the top and turned the corner, his shoulders held tensely. She realized she was holding her breath, and exhaled, her forehead wrinkling. After a moment, she continued down the stairs and out the front door.

She took off her boots and walked barefoot in the grass, toward the tree she had hid near many times when she wanted to be alone. And where she had been sleeping of late, because her bed had felt uncomfortable. She knew it was not the mattress.

Sitting down against the trunk, she folded her hands in her lap and gazed up at the darkening sky. The clouds would obscure any view of the stars—anything that would be visible, given the amount of air pollution and light disturbance from the massive city nearby. She thought about the way her body had reacted, at the idea that he might touch her. Not just a burning sensation any longer, but a deep, aching feeling, as if he had removed an essential component, and she could not repair it.

Laura closed her eyes, which had begun to sting. Had she made a mistake? Had all of this been the wrong course of action? He was still on the team, he was taking potentially harmful risks…then she remembered the way he had been smiling when he walked in. And how it had faded upon seeing her. Her eyebrows drew together, and she shook her head. No, she had chosen correctly. The damage may repair itself, if she was patient.

How strange. To have to wait for something to heal. Like when her healing factor had been disabled, in Pierce's cell. But there were things she could do in the meantime.

 _Snkkt!_

She began to slide the tip through the skin of her wrist. For a few moments, she thought it was working. The pain felt sharp, clear, a physical release. But when she finally stopped her motions and laid still, she realized that the feeling was still there. The heavy, dark feeling. The one that continued, even though she had revaluated her logic and found it sound. The feeling that she knew would resolve if she knocked on his door.

She spent the rest of the night concentrating on not going up to his room.


	29. Chapter 29 - Nothing

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here's the next chapter, sorry it took a while. Hope you all enjoy! :)

* * *

CHAPTER 29

 _Nothing_

* * *

Laura slipped into Cyclops's office, her heart beating very rapidly. Was this about Kimura, finally? She moved to stand beside Logan, trying to ignore the way Julian's heart rate was rising.

"I think we're all here now." Cyclops looked around the room. "Logan, want to share what your team found out?"

Logan folded his arms. "We ran Leper Queen's unit into the ground. She got away, but we managed to catch one of her top pawns."

Laura felt a mild sinking sensation. No, it was more of the team's agenda. She knew that the attacks needed to be stopped, but it meant that much longer that she would live with the knowledge that Kimura could return for her and her clones, at any moment.

"Creepy fucker." Domino shifted. "Total fanatic. Never seen someone just turn off their brain like that."

Logan frowned. "I dunno how reliable the info we squeezed out of him is. I could smell something off the whole time. Couldn't put my finger on it."

Julian raised his eyebrow. "But you're going to gamble our lives on it anyway?"

"Kid, I ain't finished." Logan paused. "I think part of it's reliable. The parts when he was braggin' about watchin' Bastion hand out marchin' orders."

"Why would he brag about _that?_ "

"Givin' us a taste of how much firepower Bastion has under his thumb, I guess." Logan frowned. "It ain't what you'd call good news. But we gotta handle it a piece at a time, and it seems like the next piece is Kimura."

Laura froze.

"She's workin' for Bastion, like you said." Logan's lip curled. "And she's got herself set up in Madripoor. My old turf."

"Which should come in _really_ handy." Domino grinned. "You know that place like the back of your hand."

"Maybe." Logan wrinkled his nose. "Maybe not. She's taken over…and she's got a _big_ operation runnin'."

"Doing what?" Sooraya asked softly.

Laura glanced at her friend. She was wearing a black and grey niqab, which meant she had officially joined this team. This did not surprise her. Sooraya had once told her that she had killed in self-defense and would do so again if needed.

"Collectin' bodies." Logan paused. "And…makin' Laura's trigger scent."

Laura's breath caught and her eyes snapped back to Logan.

"I'm afraid it's a little worse than that." Cyclops paused, looked at Logan. Prompting.

He looked down. "She's been sellin' the stuff. Distributin' it." Pause. "Globally."

"No. _No._ " Laura's voice. She had not meant to speak.

Vanisher raised his hand. In it was a green vial. "Her agent sold me this for a _song._ "

Laura gazed at the small glass tube.

"So is it true if you smell this—" Vanisher was uncapping the vial.

"You _stupid_ —" Logan began to roar, charging toward him.

" _AHHGH!"_ Vanisher dropped the vial in fear. It shattered on the ground.

"NO—" Laura pinched her nose closed, staring at the vial in horror. She was one breath, one molecule away from the worst scenario she could imagine at this moment. But then she saw that the puddle was emitting steam. Boiling.

"I got it all." Julian was looking at her, his expression impassive behind his mask. "You can breathe."

"…" She shook her head.

"I made it chain react. It's gone."

She finally allowed herself one small breath. Nothing happened, so she relaxed slightly and took another. Her eyes were still locked on the puddle of glass and steaming green fluid.

Logan glared at Vanisher. "The hell is wrong with you, Porter? You bring that shit in here, and you _open_ it? It just takes one drop and she could kill everyonein this room. Startin' with _you_." He paused. "Why you think it's called trigger scent?"

"Damn, really?" Domino glanced at her. "You sure?"

"This ain't funny, Dom."

Cyclops folded his arms. "Laura's a liability until we deal with her trigger scent programming." He glanced at Julian. "Think you can handle it?"

Laura also glanced at him. He was looking at Cyclops, his expression still neutral.

"Nope." He paused. "She has vibranium bonded to her skull. I can't do anything telepathically."

"Great." Logan pinched the mask-covered bridge of his nose.

"Perhaps it does not need to be telepathy." Sooraya looked at Laura. "How were you conditioned to the…trigger scent?"

Laura's eyebrows drew together.

"Torture." Julian said this before she could speak. "They tortured her with it. Drowning…water boarding…so on."

She looked at him, her mouth opening slightly. How did he know this? No one did. Except for Logan, who had read Sarah's letter. Her eyes widened. Had Julian read the letter, too? When he had given her belongings back to her, this thought had not occurred to her. Now, it startled her. How much did he know about her?

"Damn." Domino again. "That sucks. You must've been just a kid, X."

Laura was silent.

"We will find a way." Sooraya's voice was firm.

"Well, whatever it is, we gotta take care of it sooner than later." Logan grunted. "Before one of our many enemies catches wind and dumps it in our water supply or somethin'."

"How…how bad would that be?" Josh.

"She could kill almost everyone at the school." Julian folded his arms. "So, bad."

"Holy _shit_." Josh stared at her. Everyone was looking at her now.

She lowered her gaze.

"We're going after Kimura afterward, right?" Julian spoke again.

"That's your next task, yes." Cyclops paused. "Kimura, and whatever the heck she's got going in Madripoor. It's our top priority as of now. In fact, Wolverine, Vanisher, Domino, Dust…you're going to scout her base of operations. Find out what she's planning with the bodies, get a head count of her personnel. Strictly reconnaissance." He looked at Julian. "Hellion…Warpath…Elixir…you three will work on breaking X-23's trigger scent conditioning. The school resources will be at your disposal, of course." He paused. "Keep in touch. We don't have a lot of time here, but we don't want to rush in, either."

Laura looked down, her eyebrows drawing together.

Josh touched her shoulder. "Cheer up, Laura. We'll figure it out. We _always_ do."

"Come on." Julian's voice was sharp, as he headed toward the door. "We have a _lot_ of work do to, if we're going to get anywhere with _her_."

* * *

The Danger Room doors opened, and all eyes turned to Julian as he walked in, carrying a metal container. "Guess who had more trigger scent squirreled away."

"Well, gotta hand it to Vanisher." Josh grinned. "Least he's consistent about being as big as slimeball as possible."

"Yep." James looked at Laura. "You okay?"

"Fine." She looked at the container in Julian's hands, then, reluctantly, at him.

Now that he had shifted his mask up, she could detect anger in his expression, but also determination. He put the container down beside him. "Okay, so we have trigger scent, and we have Laura." He looked around the group. "Now, how are we going to stop her from reacting?" He paused. "Talking in soothing tones and crap isn't going to work. She'll keep going till we're dead."

"Damn." Santo frowned at Laura, then shrugged. "Well, just Jules and Josh. All the rest of us are nigh invulnerable, so don't sweat it…no one's gonna miss em _that_ much."

"Right, Santo. How comforting." Cessily looked at Laura apologetically. "I think he missed his calling as a therapist."

Laura glanced at Julian. "I am not participating in…this."

"I don't think we have a choice." He paused. "Either we do it here, in a controlled environment. Now. Or, it happens when you have no choice. And when no one's prepared." He paused. "Maybe when you're with Betty. Or Gabby. Or Alice. Or _all_ of them."

She looked down, closed her eyes. The clones had healing factors, but they had not developed fully yet. It was sufficient to heal minor damage such as paper cuts almost instantly, but she knew that it would not repair damage done by her claws. She nodded, very, very slightly.

"Okay. As _someone_ so delicately put it, Josh and I are the only ones you can actually kill here." Julian glared at Santo for a moment. "And I've held you off before…so we can handle your trigger state. But…we need to figure out how we're going to calm you down."

"Uh, I could make her sleep." Josh paused. "Would that help? Maybe, like…we could implant a hypnotic suggestion?"

Santo glanced at him. "You a hypnotist?"

"Well…not exactly." Josh paused. "I _have_ watched some pretty insane YouTube—"

"Stop right there." Julian closed his eyes. "Next bad idea, go."

"Could we remove the vibranium from her skull somehow?" James.

"Not unless you happen to be friends with Magneto." Julian folded his arms. "Next."

"Hey, what about smell girl?" Santo asked. "She still at the school?"

Julian's forehead wrinkled. "Smell girl?"

"Yeah…you know, that girl we used to mess around with." Santo paused, pointed at Josh. "Weren't you guys datin' or somethin'? Mousey blond chick? Calls herself Wallpaper?"

Cessily closed her eyes. " _Wallflower_ , Santo. Her name is Wallflower _._ "

Santo shrugged. "I was close."

"Wha— _Laurie?_ " Josh looked surprised. "You used to call her _smell girl?"_ He glared at Julian.

"Uh…" Julian raised his eyebrows. "I have no idea what Santo's on about." Pause. His forehead wrinkled. "But that's not a terrible idea. Adjust her _response_ to the trigger scent." He looked at Laura. "Laurie's power is to secrete pheromones. She can make people angry...and calm." Pause. "What do you think?"

Laura hesitated. She remembered Laurie. She had saved her life, once, that night the sniper had snuck onto the school grounds. She nodded slightly.

Julian closed his eyes. "Laurie's on her way. Ten minutes." He paused, glanced at Laura again. "I think we should tie you up. For the first part, anyway."

Her forehead wrinkled, and her hands trembled slightly. "Yes."

"We'll all be right here, Laura." Cessily reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "None of us will let anything happen. And Josh will be right nearby, if we need heals. Okay?"

"O-okay." Laura paused. "Please…do not let me kill anyone."

"I won't." Julian picked up the container. "Computer…start program…Weapon X, scenario 12. Safety off."

The air around them shimmered, giving way to steel corridors. "There's a gurney in here that we can use." He headed down the hall, and Laura followed. She had run most of the Weapon X programs in the Danger Room, but the layout of this one was not familiar.

The others were still entering the program as they approached the room. Laura could hear scuffling noises inside. "Julian—"

He disappeared into the room. _CLANG!_

 _Thump!_

Laura stepped in after him, her eyebrows raising as she saw the Weapon X hologram spread out on the floor, his neck at an odd angle. "You have found the defect."

"Uh huh." Julian set the container down on a counter. "Start strapping up."

She frowned, but headed toward the gurney and climbed up, her heart pounding in her ears. Was she really allowing this to happen? Deliberately exposing herself to trigger scent, while there were people she did not want dead in her immediate vicinity? "You will…you promise you will—"

"I said I would." He looked at the doorway, as the others entered the room.

Then Laurie arrived. Her blond hair was swept back in a ponytail and she wore glasses now, but she seemed much the same as when Laura had last seen her out on the lawn. Her hand was still wrapped in bandages.

"Hi, guys." She waved slightly with the other hand. "Uh, long time, no see."

Josh stiffened.

Even though Laura was still occupied with tightening her straps, she was aware of the way he was reacting to the new presence. Elevated heart rate, his breathing pattern had altered, and—she glanced up—he was staring at the newcomer

"Hi Laurie." Josh said this quietly.

Julian was also watching him. As if he were noting similar things. Laura realized he could probably sense his thoughts, and she raised an eyebrow. For the most part, she had not noticed signs of his telepathy previously. For a moment, she wondered if things would be different between them if he could sense _her_ thoughts. She looked down, her eyebrows drawing together. Then she reached out and closed a metal cuff around her ankle.

"Josh." Laurie nodded at him. "How's it going?" She had folded her arms around herself.

"Uh—good. Good." Josh paused. "You?"

She smiled stiffly. "Not bad."

"Okay, you clear on what to do, Laurie?" Julian was opening the container. To get the vial. The vial of trigger scent.

For Laura, everything else faded away. There was only the green vial in between his metal fingers. The same vial that had _caused_ those metal fingers. The same vial that had caused countless deaths. Including Sarah's. Her heart pounded in her ears.

"I'll get your arms, Laura." Cessily pressed her hand on her shoulder. "Lie back."

Laura closed her eyes, then allowed her friend to push her back against the table, to close the metal cuffs around her wrists.

Julian appeared over her, holding the vial. "Ready?"

Her eyebrows drew together. She hesitated, then nodded a final time, closed her eyes.

She heard him unscrewing the cap, and then…

* * *

Before anyone understood what was happening, Laura had snapped through the bindings like they weren't even there, her claws sweeping through Cessily's midriff, at which point Julian had pinned her down with his mind, his teeth gritted.

Laura's teeth were bared, and her eyes were red. She thrashed on the table, snarling. Yearning to kill them all.

For one brief moment, he wondered if this was who she really was inside. But just a moment. "Laurie!" he ordered.

"I—I know." Laurie had her eyes closed and was breathing deeply. "I'm filling the room with calm. It should hit you all in a moment."

Julian blinked. He could feel it. His heart rate was slowing, his eyelids drooping slightly. He could really go for a nap right now. But there was something he was supposed to do. What was it? He shook his head. _Focus. Stay sharp._ He'd been pretty pissed off since the club. All he needed to think about was… _yep._ He adjusted his mental grip on Laura, who was still feral, then he looked at Laurie. "Get closer to her."

"Yeah, okay." Laurie stepped closer to Laura, who snarled in response, her limbs shaking as she sought to free herself. She reached out and laid her unbandaged hand on the other woman's forehead. "Shhhhh."

Laura blinked, rapidly, then a bit slower. Her lip smoothed out slightly. Then the snarl disappeared.

Cessily craned her neck to look down at her friend. "It's working."

"Good." James yawned. "Damn, anyone else feel like they smoked a whole joint?"

"Yeah." Josh was grinning. "This is _awesome._ I forgot how good it feels."

Julian looked at Laurie. "More." He dipped his metal finger in the trigger scent, then reached over and dabbed it under her nostril. He paused, his finger pressed against the dent in her upper lip. He hadn't touched her there for a while now. Or anywhere. His eyebrows drew together.

"RAAAWWGGHH!"

"AAAHHHHHH!"

Blood spurted everywhere. Julian slammed Laura back against the gurney, but the damage was done. With just a flick of her wrist.

"AHHH! AHHH-AHHHH!" Laurie was curling around her arm, whimpering in pain.

"Laurie!" Josh grabbed her shoulder, and the room glowed golden. _Paft!_

"…" Laurie looked down at her arm. "You—you healed me."

"I did!" Josh stared at her newly formed hand, amazed. "No more death-claw!"

" _Josh!"_ Laurie glared at him. "It wasn't a—"

"GUYS." Julian looked over his shoulder. "We're in the middle of this still. _Focus_." His voice was sharp, but mostly because he was irritated with himself for being the one to drop the ball.

"Yes." Laurie pushed her glasses up her nose, and eyed Laura. "Are—are you sure she won't do that again?"

Cessily grabbed Laura's hands and wrapped a glob of mercury around her claws. "There. I should've done this from the start."

Laurie nodded, then laid her newly healed hand on Laura's forehead.

Laura's eyes were shifting, back and forth, her lip curled slightly, but it was clear that Laurie's pheromones were dampening her response. The sclera of her eyes was no longer red, but now a dull pink as the burst vessels began to heal. Her movements were growing slower. Her teeth unclenched. She sighed deeply. And then her eyes cleared.

"Mmm…Julian?" she asked, her eyebrows drawing together.

He frowned. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired." She paused. "Did I fall asleep?"

"No." He reached out and ran his thumb under her nose, the one still covered in trigger scent. "What does that smell like?"

Laura sniffed slightly. "Gasoline…but there is also a sweet scent. And…" her forehead wrinkled. "Citrus?"

Santo grinned. "Smell my finger next, X."

"Heh." James.

"Okay." Julian paused and looked at Laurie. "Stop."

"You sure?" She sounded afraid.

"Yeah, Cess and I have her."

Laurie stepped back. She glanced at the severed, shriveled limb on the ground and shuddered.

Julian swallowed. As confused as he felt about Laura right now, he knew one thing for sure. He wanted this to work.

Everyone stared at Laura, watching anxiously to see if she would lose control.

She stiffened, and her eyes squeezes shut. "Nnngh."

"Come on…" Julian frowned at her. "You're fine. Nothing's going to hurt you."

Laura looked at him again, her eyes half lidded. "I…"

"You can choose not to." He leaned forward. "You're fine."

She said nothing.

"I'm going to let her go." Julian glanced at the others. "Everyone out. Close the door behind you. If she gets me…Laurie, wait at the top of the stairs and have a calming field ready. Cessily, you'll need to catch and restrain her."

He waited until the door slid shut behind them, then held up the vial again.

"No!" Laura's eyes were wide with fear. "Please! Stop—"

He looked up. "Computer—filter the air."

There was a loud rushing sound, and Laura's hair floated around her shoulders for a moment. Then all traces of the pheromones were gone.

He gave her a hard look. "If you want to finish me off, here's your chance. I'm not holding you back anymore." He uncapped the trigger scent vial again.

Laura bowed her head. Her knuckles were on fire. Dark fingers were creeping into the edges of her vision, trying to drag her down. Into the black, the nothing. Then she would wake up, and blood would be smeared everywhere, and…sweat beaded on her forehead. "Nnnngh. Go." This came out as more of a snarl than a word.

"No."

 _Snkkt!_ "GO!"

Julian recapped the vial. "I think we're going to have to keep doing this. A couple more times, at least." He then began to destroy the samples they'd used. The particles beneath her nose, and on his thumb. The trigger scent evaporated into a thin grin mist,

"Yes." Laura relaxed, and then slipped off the gurney. Pause. "Thank you."

Julian eyed her for a moment. "Uh huh."

Silence.

"HE'S OKAY!" Cessily shouted, having poked her head into the room. "WE DID IT!"

Julian rubbed his temples, scowling at Cessily. "Did you have to scream it in your head too?"

She shoved him out of the way and wound her arms around Laura several times. "I knew you'd be fine. Didn't I tell you?"

Laura looked down slightly, as she noticed Julian leaving the danger room, out of the corner of her eye. "Yes."

* * *

Laura watched her clones as they fell asleep one by one. She still felt tired from earlier, but she knew that she could not sleep in here. As usual, she headed out into the hall, down the stairs, and out the front door. She headed toward her tree, her toes wiggling in the grass.

As she slid down, her back to the trunk, she tried to absorb the fact that she had smelled trigger scent today and had not killed anyone. Or blacked out. She knew that it would take much more practice…but there was hope. Hope that the next time she encountered that green vial in a combat situation, she might have a _choice._ The choice she had never truly had before. To not go away. To not kill.

But her mind kept going back to her observations of Josh, when he had seen Laurie again. It reminded her of something. Julian. How he had reacted, that night in the snow, before she had killed him. And later, on the rooftop, when he had come to rescue her. Both times, he had stumbled over his words, done foolish things, ignored her warnings not to come near her. His heart had raced, his breathing had quickened. As if his reaction to her was involuntary, as if she was something he needed. Her eyebrows drew together. Why would he need something that was not good for him? Did he not understand that she was not good?

She recalled how Josh had gazed after Laurie, after the session had ended. The other woman had walked away without saying goodbye to him. Josh had looked down for a moment, his forehead wrinkling. That too had been familiar.

She squeezed her eyes closed. Why did this all have to be so confusing? Her knuckles itched, and she slowly popped one claw. _Snkkt!_

* * *

Laura's eyes snapped open as something hard jabbed her in the rib. Three small faces were gathered around her.

"I _told_ you X-23 is not dead!" Gabby hissed. "We can hear a heartbeat, why would you doubt your senses?"

The poke occurred again. "But it…she…is not moving! Why are you not moving, X-23?" Betty.

"…" Laura's forehead wrinkled.

"Poke her again," Alice advised, in a concerned voice.

"Stop." Laura sat up and eyed the clones. She saw that Betty was holding a stick. "Put that down."

The stick was dropped, and Betty shrunk behind Gabby, who raised her chin. "I instructed her to test you for life. Just in case."

"We wondered if we would have to dig a hole for your remains." Betty.

"We were told to always hide the evidence." Alice, in a whisper.

Laura closed her eyes. "I am alive. Please, return to your room. I will be there shortly."

The clones turned on their heels and ran back into the school. She leaned back against the tree trunk and sighed. The feeling from last night was still there. But it was daytime now, and there was work to be done. Her clones needed breakfast, and she then she would need to get someone to watch them while she and the others went hunting for Kimura.

Hopefully this would be the last time she needed to do so.

* * *

"You ready for this, kid?" Logan was asking her.

It was several hours later. After feeding her clones cereal and milk that she had found in the kitchen, Laura had set about finding someone to supervise them for the rest of the day. Rogue had been busy, but Frost had overheard the request and offered her assistance. Laura had hesitated, but ultimately accepted the offer. It seemed unlikely that she would harm them. Her clones were not weapons, like she was.

Now, Laura hesitated. No, she did not feel prepared. They had only held three more practice sessions. This was an extremely short amount of time compared to the years it had taken to achieve the trigger scent conditioning in the first place. As is, she was barely able to temper her response in a controlled environment. It would be a struggle if and when Kimura exposed her to even a droplet. Plus, the chaos of a combat environment might make it impossible to avoid blacking out. But she knew that she did not actually have a choice. Time was of the essence. She closed her eyes and nodded.

Logan nodded, too, curtly. Then he looked around the group. "So, Vanisher here can't port us straight into the main compound for some bullshit reason."

"It is _not—_ " Vanisher began.

Logan gave him a hard look.

He fell silent.

"Why's that a problem?" James asked.

"We found out what they were doing with the bodies." Logan wrinkled his nose. "They're recyclin' their goons, usin' the T.O. virus to resurrect 'em."

Domino folded her arms. "The island is just _crawling_ with her people. Like an ant colony."

"Yes." Sooraya, her lips pressed into a line.

Julian frowned. "What kind of people?"

"Most are humans." Logan paused. "But the Cuckoos picked up a bunch of new signatures with Cerebra this mornin'…so I'm guessin' there might be some muties too." He paused. "Anyways, we're gonna split up."

"Isn't that how every horror movie ever starts?" Santo asked.

Domino grinned at him. "Yeah. But a big group of us will attract a hell of a lot of attention. A few of us at a time might be able to stealth."

"I'm with heal boy." Vanisher said this very quickly, stepping over to stand beside Josh.

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Guess we know who's dyin' first."

"I am _not_ useless!" Josh protested.

"Heh." James.

"Alright, down to business." Logan looked around the group again. "Here's the split. Warpath, Elixir, and Domino, south; X-23 and Vanisher, east; Dust, Mercury, Rockslide, west; Hellion, you're with me, and we'll handle north. Look for the quickest way into the main compound. Primary target is Kimura." He looked at Vanisher. "Go for it."

 _VTT!_

Laura crouched slightly as their surroundings changed to the cobblestone street of Madripoor, the air growing heavy with moisture, heat, and the scent of sea salt. And death. Her lip curled in distaste.

"It's about time." Cessily was speaking to her. "Let's go defeat your monster, Laura."

"Yes." Laura pulled her mask down and headed down the street, her eyes fixed straight ahead. Her knuckles were itching again.

* * *

Julian watched Laura go, his forehead wrinkling slightly.

The last few days had been almost unbearable. He'd pushed away all his anger, his confusion, forcing himself to help her overcome her last hurdle. But every moment had hurt. He wasn't even ready to be in the same room with her.

Cessily had claimed Laura's feelings were genuine, but he took that with a grain of salt. He couldn't even tell if she had thought about what happened between them. At all. She was so damn unreadable. He still spent every night lying awake in his empty bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering if she'd knock on the door again. _Wanting_ her to, even if she just wanted to use him. But he knew she wouldn't. He had played with the idea of knocking on _her_ door, but he never did. She barely even looked at him now.

Plus, he was half-afraid that someone else would answer. He didn't know what he'd do if that happened.

Once this fight with Kimura was over, would he even see her again? Probably not. She would move on to other things. Maybe leave the school. He didn't even know how to take that. If she was gone, would it hurt less than having to see her every single day? Or more?

"Kid. Focus."

Julian started, looked at Logan, who was looking at him with narrowed eyes. The others were already gone. He swallowed. "Uh—I was just—"

"Mask down." Logan's voice was still sharp.

He pulled the mask over his eyes, frowning. "Sorry."

"Don't." Logan paused. "I know you an' my clone got some kind of problem. But this ain't the time or place."

Julian looked down. "I—"

"Didn't ask, kid. Just asked you to focus. Let's go."

He followed Logan up the street, trying to do as instructed. To focus. They were here to finally get Kimura, for once and for all. It was the thing he wanted most in the world. Well, actually, there was something that he—

Logan grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back. _KID!_ He barked at him mentally.

Julian stared at the group of armed soldiers he had almost walked into, then closed his eyes, angry at himself.

 _You want to get yourself killed? Cause that's a pretty good way to do it._

 _Yeah, sorry._

 _I'll have that carved on your tombstone._

Julian rolled his eyes. _I_ know _it was stupid, can you drop it?_

Logan's lip curled. _Thought you were through bein' a dumbass._

Julian looked down.

 _God damn it._ Logan managed to sound annoyed, even in his head. _I didn't wanna get involved._ He paused. _I know you an' Laura are havin' some sort of fight._

 _How-_

 _Your vitals spike off the charts when you're in the same room._ Logan's nose wrinkled. _Both of you. But-you two are adults and you gotta work it out between you. And, you do that on your own time, understand? Leave that shit at home where it belongs, not out in the field where bein' distracted can lead to not just your death, but maybe_ all _of us._

 _Yeah._ Julian looked away. _I've got it. Can we go?_

Logan considered for a moment, then pinched the bridge of his nose and looked down. _No, I ain't done._

 _You don't have to—_ Julian began.

 _Shut up. I'm only sayin' this once._ Logan paused. _All said…you'll work through it, if it's worth it. But you need to be patient. Laura ain't your average girl._

Julian rolled his eyes. _Tell me something I don't—_

 _Don't cut me off, bub. I said, she ain't your average girl. Not because she's my clone, or somethin' special…but because she's had less practice bein' a person than a_ toddler _._ Logan paused. _What you think Kimura had her doin' all this time, scrap booking?_

Julian exhaled. _No._ This was frustrating. He'd never had a mental conversation with someone who could cut off his thoughts.

 _Whatever she's doin' that pisses you off, she's gonna keep doin' it till you tell her straight. She ain't gonna get subtle hints._

 _It's not that._ Julian's eyebrows drew together. _She, uh, broke up with me. I caught her with—_

Logan held up a hand slightly. _Spare me the mental image of whatever the hell my clone does on her free time. But…if she wants to play the field a bit, let her._

 _But—_ Julian began, his mental voice full of indignation.

 _Let me put it in kid-friendly terms._ Logan paused. _How do you know vanilla's your favorite ice cream unless you try the other flavors?_

Julian considered this. _Yeah, I guess. But…_ his forehead wrinkled. _It's hard to stand by and watch her trying._

Logan shrugged. _Better than bein' the other flavor, kid. Trust me._ He paused for a moment, his expression thoughtful, as if remembering something. Then he shook his head. _Now, you goin' to get your act together, or you want to stay here and cry it out while I take care of these assholes?_

Julian gritted his teeth. _Shut up._

Logan grinned. _Snikt!_ "Thought so."

* * *

Laura ran up the side of a wall and launched herself into the swarm of combatants that should have already died. Twice. But the heartbeats around her would not cease. The death smell was pervasive. The stagnant odor. With an undercurrent of metal. The way Bastion's men had smelled. Not alive, but not dead. Somewhere in between.

They had known their opponents had been resurrected, but not that this would make them almost impossible to fight. She landed in the center of the fray and gritted her teeth as the gunfire started. A spray of bullets shot through her torso and bounced off the pavement below. She shook her head, forced herself up, and started again.

Finally, the last combatant fell to the ground and did not move again, his weapon clattering across the bricks. In several pieces.

 _VTT!_

Vanisher reappeared beside her and wrinkled his nose. "It's going to take _forever_ at this rate." He folded his arms. "Can't you go faster?"

Laura pressed her lips into a line as she gazed at him. For a moment she considered harassing him as the others had, but she knew that would gain her nothing but more complaints. So she retracted her claws and resumed her slow, steady, determined journey toward the central compound.

* * *

"Anyone else notice how Logan just lumped all us kids together?" Santo grumbled. _WHAM!_ as he sent a soldier flying backward with one swing of his pillar-like arm. "Like, this ain't even an important area. We just been beatin' on thugs for hours an' hours an' gettin' nowhere." Pause. "Thugs aren't even the _good_ ones. They're just mercs."

Cessily rolled her eyes. "First of all…it's been _twenty minutes._ And second, we made the mistake of following _you._ And you led us in a big circle."

"Oh, right." Santo paused. "God dammit."

"My sentiments exactly." Cessily retracted her arm, which she had been using to squeeze two soldiers together in a manner similar to a boa constrictor. "But I don't care about the whole kid thing. We're here to help Laura…not to audition for the team or something."

"I wasn't sayin' that! I'm just tired of bein' out of the loop on stuff, you know?" Santo held up his arm, blocking a spray of bullets from hitting his face.

"Yeah." Cessily snaked along the ground and wound herself around the legs of the man and knocked him over, then crushed his gun with her fingers. "I don't like this team. What they do. I don't trust a bunch of them…like what's her name? Domino? And the teleporting sleezebag." She wrinkled her nose. "I don't care what Julian said. It's _never_ cool to—to take things that far." She paused. "I really think he's lost his way."

There was a wispy noise as a cloud of sand floated down, and Sooraya reformed, her garment fluttering in the wake of her motions.

Cessily stood up. "Sooraya! We've been looking for you everywhere, Santo got us lost and—"

Sooraya closed her eyes. "I could not take it anymore. Watching us die. Brian. Jay. Max." She paused. "We…do not wait. This team. We do what is needed, to make sure we will not lose more innocent lives."

Cessily's eyes slipped past her friend. To the men lying still in the courtyard beyond them. The pools of blood. She looked back at Sooraya again, her eyebrows drawing together.

Santo was staring at the courtyard, too. Finally he cleared his throat. "Yeah. Still somethin' to wrap your head around, y'know?"

"Yes." Sooraya paused, then reached up and pushed back her hood. Her expression was very serious. "I choose to do this because I know that Bastion…and those who work for him…will not hold back either." Pause. "They have already shown me that. They will not stop until we are all dead."

"I'm sorry." Cessily reached out and gave Sooraya a hug. "I wish I would've known."

"You were needed elsewhere." Sooraya drew away. "We cannot leave any of them alive. There is work to be done."

"Dude…" Santo was looking over her shoulder. "I don't think they _are_."

Sooraya turned and saw what he was looking at. The men in the courtyard, slowly getting to their feet, blood pouring out of the holes she had rendered a few minutes ago.

"Ohhhh boy." Cessily grimaced. "They don't look happy."

* * *

"…" Julian had just made the same discovery, as the man who he had just punched a hole in got to his feet, glaring at him. "How the hell do we kill them?" He shielded himself from a wave of bullets.

He had already tried all his usual moves. Aneurysms. Mind freezing. He couldn't even sense the man's thoughts. He thought it might have something to do with their T.O. virus. Or maybe the fact that they weren't really alive.

"Simple. Hole ain't healin." Logan pointed at the man as he lumbered toward them. "Slice and dice."

"Aw, c'mon."

 _Snikt! SHLUNK! SHLUNK!_

"…" Julian made a face. "Ugh."

"Yep." Logan eyed the troop approaching them. "This is gonna take longer than we planned."

* * *

"Wait up!" Vanisher was puffing as he jogged after Laura.

"No. Walk faster." She was beginning to be irritated by the teleporter, who was turning out to be a handicap. He had disappeared during the last fight, only to bring a second wave of combatants with him when he returned. It could have been a deliberate attempt to sabotage her, but she doubted it. Vanisher did not seem intelligent enough to attempt to trick her in this fashion. Just careless and incompetent at times.

"I'm going as fast as I can. Unless you changed your mind."

Laura's mouth pressed into a line. She had forbidden further teleporting. "No."

"Whatever." Vanisher paused. "Hey, you're friends with the sand girl, right?"

"Dust?" Laura eyed him. "Yes, she is my friend."

"Hmmm." Vanisher paused again. "I like her style. Classy." He grinned. "I'm into Eastern chicks. I'm starting my own harem. She'd be great."

"…" Her eyebrows drew together, and her lip curled slightly. She was not entirely sure what he had said, but his tone conveyed enough information for her to be mildly disturbed.

"Want to cut another deal?" Vanisher said this enthusiastically.

Laura gazed at him.

"I can port out that big tank of trigger scent this Kimura character is probably planning to use on your team. For a price."

"I…what?" Laura stared at him, alarmed.

"I heard her agents bragging about how much they had brewed up. They said it's enough to fill a swimming pool or two."

Laura hesitated for a moment. "What do you want?"

"Hmm." Vanisher folded his arms. "Money. What can you do?"

She closed her eyes. "Another two million."

"Three." He paused. " _And…_ talk to your friend for me…get her interested in joining my little operation."

Laura hesitated again. What did he mean by "talk to her friend"?

He raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

She decided that she would agree. He had not specified that Sooraya needed to agree to join him, only that she should inform her about the offer. Her lip curled. "Yes."

Vanisher clapped his hands together, looking pleased. "Sounds like we have a deal! Now if you can just hurry up with the fighting…"

Laura glared at him but then moved forward. On with the mission.

* * *

"God damn." Logan said this, about an hour later, having finally reached the gate of the main compound.

Laura watched as he peered through the mesh fence. He was as drenched with blood as she was. His ear was cocked as he listened, to the thing she was hoping was not true. To the thing she was hoping was a miscalculation on her part.

That there were _thousands_ of heartbeats in the nearby compound.

The grounds were packed with soldiers. All standing, quietly, waiting for the moment they would be called on to fight.

"Think we're outgunned." Julian said this quietly. He, too, was splattered with red, but less so than herself. "There's no way—"

Laura looked at him, her eyebrows drawing together. "You _promised._ " She had not meant to say this out loud.

He said nothing, but his eyes narrowed behind his mask, and his heart rate rose about ten beats per minute. Her comment had angered him.

"Kid…" Logan glanced at her, frowning. "Don't think there's anything we can do here. We can't port in. An' we don't know where Kimura is. That's a suicide mission. Which I'm not takin' on. Not when you lot are here."

"Thank _god_." Josh mumbled this.

Laura looked at the ground. Logically speaking, she knew they were correct. Still, she felt frustrated. They were here, so close to Kimura. So close to ending her. Perhaps with this team they could finally achieve it.

"Are they all dead?" Cessily asked, her voice flat. "I mean, like, undead?"

"Yep." Logan paused. "Well, looks like it's back to the drawing board." He caught Laura's angry expression. "Unless you've got a better idea."

She hesitated. "Vanisher said that there are tanks of trigger scent inside." Pause. "The facility will probably have a sprinkler syst—"

 _"NO!"_ Julian looked at her, his upper lip curling. "Are you fucking crazy?" Now his heart rate rose by twenty beats per minute.

"I—" Laura's eyebrows drew together. "No. I can disable at least a hundred of them, perhaps two. Those inside the building at least."

"And there are _thousands_ on the grounds, waiting to provide back up." Logan's voice was firm. "Sorry, but I'm with the kid on this one—"

There was a brilliant pink flash of light, and a deep sound. _BLINK!_

"Kimura's teleporter." Laura's eyebrows drew together, and she looked at Logan, who was sensing the same thing. Most of the heartbeats had disappeared.

"…" Julian's forehead wrinkled. "What the—" he peered through the mesh.

The compound grounds were now empty.

Cessily's forehead wrinkled. "Where'd they all _go_?"

"Huh." Vanisher's forehead wrinkled. "Uh…possibly related…the barrier is gone."

Domino glanced at him. "The porting barrier?"

"Yeah." He looked at the compound. "It's hard to explain…but I can kind of see inside the building now. Used to just see white." Pause. "Think I could take us in."

"My plan will work. We will reach Kimura much faster this way." Laura's voice was filled with fresh confidence. "Vanisher can teleport the tanks to the water supply room and perform the necessary modifications."

"Probably." Vanisher paused. "I'm no plumber, but I think I can manage an intake pipe."

"No." Julian looked at Laura again. "All of this has been so you can have a _choice_ —"

"And I am choosing this." Laura turned her gaze to Vanisher. "Please. Teleport the tanks. Then return for me."

Logan nodded slightly. "Do it."

 _VTT!_

Julian folded his arms, looked away. He was displeased.

Laura stood in place, waiting for Vanisher to return, her hands shaking slightly as she let herself, momentarily, consider what she was about to do. Purposely expose herself to trigger scent. She closed her eyes, reminded herself that these targets were already dead. It was not the same as the villages, where Kimura had tested her response to the trigger scent mechanism. _It is not the same.  
_ About a minute passed.

 _VTT!_

"I got fucking shot on the last pass!" Vanisher shouted, clutching his bleeding arm. "I want a pay raise!"

"…" Laura reached forward and grabbed his collar, her other fist shoving itself under his chin. "Teleport me in. Now."

"What—not you too, Creepy Girl!" Vanisher yelped.

"Teleport me, now, or you will receive _nothing._ "

"…" Vanisher glared at her. "You X-men are all the same."

"I am not an X-man." Laura allowed the tips of her claws to emerge.

"Alright, alright!"

 _VTT!_

She was suddenly in a small room, a large green tank on either side of her. By the doorway was a fire alarm switch. She released Vanisher. "Go back outside and do what the others say."

 _VTT!_

Laura eyed the fire alarm.

What would happen when she pulled it? What if the sprinklers malfunctioned? What if she could not handle this many combatants? What if she could not tolerate this much trigger scent, and she was lost? She had not said goodbye. Not to her clones, not to Logan, not even to Julian. She could die, now, and none of them would know that she had thought of them. But she could smell the death around her. Beyond it, somewhere, scentless but there, was Kimura. Watching. Waiting. She must destroy her, now, once and for all. Kimura must end.

As she passed through the doorway, as the first line of soldiers raised their guns toward her, she reached out and pulled the handle.

 _BRRRRIIIIINNNGGGG—_

The green rain began to fall, drenching her, filling the air with a mist. For just a moment, she was faced with a choice. An option, to clap her hand over her mouth, try to stay conscious, even though it would most likely be futile. Instead, she took a deep sniff.

All went dark.

* * *

"Is Vanisher coming back or…?" Cessily asked.

"It's been about ten minutes." Domino wrinkled her nose. "Eleven, now."

"God damn it." Logan closed his eyes. "I am going to hack goddamn Porter into lil itty bitty pieces."

Julian reached out and shoved the compound gate down with his mind. "Never should have let her go in alone."

"Hindsight's twenty-twenty." Logan stomped in after him.

Trading glances, the rest of the team followed.

* * *

Telford walked into the bar, still shaking his head slightly. What a crazy ass adventure all _that_ had been. At least he was a hundred G better off than when it had started. Not much, considering how busy it had all kept him, and considering that he could probably make more suing the X-men for psychological trauma, but he didn't feel like dumping more time and money into it. He'd just have to watch the jobs he took carefully from now on, make sure he didn't cross paths with them again.

He held up his fingers as he sat down on the bar stool. "Strawberry margarita."

The bartender gave him a tired look, then pulled out a glass and began to pour him a beer.

Telford wrinkled his nose, but he wasn't about to argue. Alcohol of any type was better than none. The aim was to take the edge off. Then he'd go visit one of his houses, spend time with his girls. He hadn't seen them in a very long time. Already, his expression was beginning to give way to a smile. There was one girl in particular he was eager to see. Almond shaped eyes, smooth, dark skin, mostly hidden by her flowing garment—

"…" Telford blinked, then scowled. He definitely didn't want to think about _that_ stuck-up ice princess. She wouldn't even _talk_ to him. Just seemed vaguely disturbed by his attention when he tried. Even worse than backstabbing Creepy Girl. What was her name again? Soo-something? He probably didn't need to worry long. They'd all be dead soon enough, if what he'd heard on the circuit about Kimura was right.

The bartender plunked down the glass in front of him. "Tab?"

"Yep." Telford took a sip of his beer, drummed his fingers against the glass.

* * *

"Jesus." Josh murmured as they entered the compound through the door and took in the spectacle waiting for them.

Cessily covered her mouth, her eyes bulging. She had no words.

" _Damn._ " Santo paused. "This is like…I ain't seen nothin' like _this._ "

Blood was everywhere. Dripping from the concrete walls, the ceiling, coating the unfinished grey floor. Diluted in places by the trigger scent spray. Which was still going. The floor was littered with her handiwork. The walls bore deep gouge marks from her claws.

Julian looked at the fire alarm handle by the door, then reached out and closed his eyes. A moment later, the bell tinkling in the background stopped, and the green droplets ceased. " _She_ did all this?" Domino sounded surprised. "That little girl?"

Logan held up a hand, listening to something in the distance.

 _Is she nearby?_ Julian asked. He didn't want to risk drawing her toward them.

 _Three corridors down, two across. To the east._ Logan paused. _Think she's still blacked out. Guessin' she won't recognize us?_

 _She'll try to kill anyone who gets near._ Julian hesitated. _But I can stop her._

 _Kid—_

 _No one died when you had us recondition her, did we?_ Julian shielded himself. _Wait here, guys._ This latter message was to the group. He started down the corridor, trying not to step in anything more substantial than puddles. He heard the _squish squish squish_ of footsteps following, but could sense it was Logan, so he wasn't about to argue.

They had been walking for about a minute, when the noises became apparent to him, too. Gunfire. Metal sounds. Unintelligible shouting. Snarls. He glanced at Logan, who was giving off waves of apprehension. The older man had never seen Laura triggered, and it seemed he didn't want to. He wondered why. Was he afraid? He doubted it, but still it was clear that the Logan didn't want to proceed. Julian couldn't find out more without digging, so he could only make guesses. Maybe he was afraid of seeing the monster that the facility had created?

The noises ceased. Then, scuffling, at the end of their corridor. And then…Laura stepped into view around the corner. She was coated from head to toe in blood, as if she had been dipped in red paint. Even her hair was a dark, slick burgundy. Her claws dripped at her sides. Was she even wearing her uniform anymore? He couldn't tell.

"Christ." Logan.

Laura's lips curled in a snarl.

Julian swallowed, his eyebrows drawing together. "Laura—" he said. More of a whisper. He was hoping, half-heartedly, that she would remember all the work they had done recently, showing her that trigger scent didn't always mean that people were going to hurt her.

She began running at them. Now he could see that her eyes were red too. She leapt the last few feet and brought her claws down toward him. Clearly, she remembered nothing.

 _WAM!_ Logan intercepted her in midair, flinging her backward.

Laura landed on her behind. For a moment, there was an expression of surprise across her otherwise blank face. Then she was on her feet again, charging.

 _Snikt!_ Logan swung his fist and met her first swipe with his own claws. _Clang! Clang!_

Laura's eyebrows drew together. Then she was whipping her foot claw through the air.

"Grrr!" Logan's head snapped back. For a moment, among a spray of red, a metal cheekbone was visible. Then he grabbed Laura's foot and sent her spinning across the floor.

She slid to a halt, and was up and charging at them again, teeth bared.

"Kid!" Logan snarled, as he deflected her claws again with his own. _Clang!_ " _Grab_ her!"

Julian dropped his own shield, then reached out and slammed her down against the floor with his mind. She struggled, arcing her back as she sought to escape the hold, but she could not break it.

"Good job." Logan wiped his face on his sleeve. "Quite a handful."

Julian gazed at her as she twisted, thinking. He needed to remove the trigger scent. Could he do that? Maybe if he switched to a bubble hold. But he'd have to find the diameter, since the vibranium in her skull interrupted everything within a certain range. He began to think about the space around her. The bubble flickered as it formed, then died. Too close. He tried again, farther. There! Laura leapt up and slammed her hands against the freshly formed wall, her eyes promising death. He began to think about the molecules around her, finding the trigger scent. Then he focused on moving them out.

"Someone's comin'." Logan paused. "Can't smell em—" he turned around.

Laura inhaled sharply, as if beginning to wake from a deep sleep. Then she looked at them, her eyes clear. They widened.

 _Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Click! Click!_

Julian looked over his shoulder, to see Kimura holding a pistol. It was painted red.

 _Thud!_ Beside him. Logan hitting the concrete. "Wha…" he twitched, then was still.

"I've got a special gun for you too." Kimura grinned. "But I don't even need it, do I?"

 _Shlunk!_

Julian looked down to see two long metal blades sticking out of his abdomen. Then they retracted. His eyebrows drew together. Of course. He had dropped the field and Laura had been surrounded by trigger scent again. He clapped his hand over the wound, his fingers glowing green as he sealed the edges together. _Josh...we need—_ he began, but then Kimura's fist met his face.

Everything went dark.

* * *

Telford gazed down at his beer. The second one. He'd spent the last half hour telling himself to relax. Telling himself that it was all over now. He could just kick his heels up, unwind. Maybe visiting his girls wasn't a good idea right now, but there were always other things he could do. Like plot out what he was going to spend his money on.

A hundred thousand would probably get him the gold bannisters. And he could redo the flooring on his Tokyo hide out. Maybe get stained glass windows installed, but probably not from the artist he'd been thinking of. With two mill, sure. Not on his budget though. His fingers tightened around the glass, and his nose wrinkled.

Maybe he should go back, force Creepy Girl to pay up on the full sum. If she was still alive. He raised an eyebrow. She owed him, that and more _,_ since they'd renegotiated. He drummed his fingers on the counter. The more he thought about it, the more he thought he should go back and get what they owed him. And, bonus, if he came back when he didn't have to, stuck-up princess would probably be impressed. But the money was the important thing.

Telford took a last drink, then... _VTT!_

* * *

"It's a fucking warzone in here." Domino's forehead was wrinkled. "How the hell are we going to find them?"

The group had been searching for Logan and Julian for the last ten minutes with no results. The last they had heard was the latter's cut-off distress message.

"I should've gone with him." Cessily was looking down at the concrete floor, her eyes half-lidded. She had been shocked by all the gore at first, but now it just all looked the same. "I thought he'd be okay with Logan there…but I should've known better."

"Aw." Santo patted her shoulder. "Don't blame yourself. It wasn't your call."

She gave him a miserable look. "But we're his _friends._ "

"Yeah, but we can't stop him from doin' stupid things." Santo grinned. "All it means is we gotta be ready to save his ass when he needs it."

Cessily smiled slightly. "I guess."

 _VTT!_

"I'm back—" Vanisher announced.

James grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him up against the wall, his teeth gritted.

"HEY WHAT THE—"

Josh grabbed Vanisher's hand. "You so much as _twitch_ and it's relapse city for you!"

Domino pointed her gun at Vanisher's head. "Just the piece of shit we could use right now, actually."

Vanisher made a choking noise.

Sooraya's eyebrows drew together. "Let him go."

James hesitated, then released his fingers, letting the teleporter slide down to his feet.

"We have been separated from the others." Sooraya addressed Vanisher, frowning. "Please assist us."

Vanisher glared at them. "I came _back_ to help, you fucktards!" He rubbed his throat, then glanced at her. "Fine. Since you asked _nicely._ Rest of you all could stand to learn a lesson from this one."

Domino grinned, lowered her gun. "Since when did you become such a stickler for manners, Porter?"

"Since when is not screaming and shoving a gun in my face _manners?_ " Vanisher looked at Josh, who was still holding his wrist. "Get your fucking fingers off of me or I'll port them to the north pole."

Josh rolled his eyes but let go.

Sooraya cleared her throat. "Please hurry."

 _VTT!_

* * *

Laura came to on her hands and knees, shaking.

Buckets of water had been sloshed over her. Were still being sloshed over her.

Her arms were shackled together. As were her legs.

There was a pair of boots in front of her. One was tapping against the concrete. There was a green glow somewhere in the distance. What was it?

"Hello, clone." Kimura.

Laura looked up slowly. She felt slow. Something had been done to her. Carbonadium. She had bullets in her body. Two. Three. One in her head. Frontal cortex. Non-vital. Deliberate, to slow her, without completely disable her.

Kimura wanted her to be conscious for whatever she had planned.

"I've been _waiting_ for you." Kimura paused. There seemed to be two of her. No, that was her doubled and blurred vision. "You like the little present I left for you at the old facility, huh?" She crouched down. "Who needs a hundred more of your _garbage genes_. Clone, I'm not just going to kill you, I'm gonna wipe you off the face of this earth. Every single person who ever shared your DNA."

Laura was silent, trying to follow what she meant? More clones? Debbie and Megan? Her heart grew still.

"But I thought we'd start with a familiar face." Kimura paused. "Get the fuck over here, Sarah."

Footsteps. Approaching. Echoing in the enormous room.

Laura froze. Her eyes rose slowly. " _No._ " This came out as a hoarse whisper.

"Oh, _yes._ " Kimura folded her arms. "You need to do some suffering for that little stunt back in Krasnokamensk."

"Please. Laura. Listen to me." A soft, familiar voice. A voice she had not heard for almost seven years. "You must do whatever she says. Immediately. No matter what it is."

Laura gazed at the blurred figure, trying to resolve the image. Her mother looked just as she remembered her. Without the blood. But her skin was bluish. There was something about her that was not right. She wondered if her abdomen was still covered in claw marks, from when she had eviscerated her. "No." Her voice was very small. "I…I…"

"Such a touching reunion." Kimura sighed. "You guys almost make me feel _bad_ about what comes next."

"Laura." Sarah's voice grew stern. "Promise me you will do what she says."

"NO!" Laura shook her head, her eyes burning.

"Oh come _on_ , clone." Kimura rolled her eyes. "Even you can't be so stupid as to think there's a way out of this one."

"…" Laura gazed up at her. She sprang suddenly, her claws popping with a _Snkkt!_ but then she hit the end of her chain and was yanked to the floor. Her adamantium kneecaps crashed into the concrete, causing it to fracture.

"Right." Kimura paused, looked over at Sarah. "Hmm. I find myself _inspired_ by the Madripoor culture. You ever heard of _Lingchi_?"

Sarah looked down. "Kimura, I _did_ what you asked. You wouldn't be here without—"

"That was just busy work." Kimura arched her eyebrows. "And don't interrupt me. I _asked_ if either of you know what Lingchi is."

"Death by a thousand cuts." Sarah, quietly.

Kimura clasped her hands behind her back and began to walk around the room slowly, her eyes on Laura. "Madripoor has an interesting variation of Lingchi."

Silence.

"You have to guess it." Kimura paused. "Here's a hint. You might say they have…exotic _tastes_."

Laura glared at her.

"No. Kimura. She's a child." Sarah was speaking again. Calmly. As if trying to reason. "Please think of what you're asking—"

"That's the PROBLEM!" Kimura shouted at her. "Don't you get it yet? How many times do you have to die at her hands before you understand that that _thing_ is _not_ a child?! It has _never_ been! You're just as insane and fucked up as it is! You both have to die, and this is the most poetic way I can possibly think of." Kimura paused. "And then it's over. Don't you want that, X? Don't you want hell to _end_?"

Laura shifted her gaze from Kimura to the soft green glow behind her. It had caught her attention several times while she had been speaking, but her vision had been too blurred to comprehend what it was. But now it had come into focus. The same tank from several years ago. Filled with trigger scent. Bubbles. Inside...Julian. And beside it, in another tank, Logan. Both unconscious.

She understood. This was who Kimura would destroy if she did not comply. Her eyebrows drew together.

The former was waking. She could see his eyelids beginning to open. But it would be pointless. There was a ring of metal around his forehead. Vibranium. His arms and legs were bound. Even if she was able to control her response to the trigger scent, she could not free him. She was shackled to the floor. With adamantium. She knew this, even without testing. Kimura would not use anything less.

"CLONE!" Kimura was shouting at her. "Pay ATTENTION!"

"Laura." Sarah was speaking. "I shouldn't be here anyways. Just…just do it. Please." Pause. "It will only hurt for a little while."

"…" Laura squeezed her eyes shut.

 _BLAM!_

"What—" Kimura looked at the tank.

 _BLAM! Tinkle!_ The glass on Julian's tank shattered as his metal fist ploughed through it. He ripped off his headgear, and then his eyes began to glow.

Laura scrambled backward, her hands over her nose and mouth as trigger scent poured out of the shattered tube in a wave. She did not want to black out now. But already, fingers of darkness were creeping into the edges of her vision. _Snakt!_ as she forced her claws to retract. Better to keep them hidden.

"Here!" Julian threw his mask at her, then turned to Logan's tube and drew his fist back.

"Absolutely not!" Kimura shouted, outraged. She tore him away and sent him flying across the room. Right into Laura.

She tumbled backward as they collided, trying to keep the mask pressed against her face. She was already suffering from her reaction to the carbonadium bullets. And now he had hit her, and he was _soaked_ in trigger scent, and—she squeezed her eyes shut, breathing into the mask as hard as she could. The end was not attached to the oxygen tank anymore, so she was still breathing in the scent, but it was muted. And it was something for her to focus on. _Breathe. Breathe._ It helped slightly. The fingers creeping into her vision shortened. She risked opening her eyes.

Julian was sitting up in front of her, reaching out toward Logan's tank. Working on freeing him. The shackles dropped off his hands, but he did not stir.

"You know _what?!"_ Kimura was pulling a gun out of her belt. Probably loaded with vibranium bullets. "Keeping you around was a dumb move on my part. It's time for you to _die_ already." She aimed it at his head and fired with a _BANG!_

Laura shoved him out of the way, the bullet sinking into her shoulder instead.

"Oh come _on_ clone!" Kimura shook her head, walked toward them and shoved her away with her boot, then pressed it against his forehead. "It's been fun, kid."

Julian glared up at her, his lip curling.

 _VTT!_

"I was _wondering_ when—" Kimura began.

 _WOOSH!_ A swarm of sand enveloped her, choking out whatever she had been going to say next. Followed by Santo and Cessily, each yelling something as they charged in to attack.

Julian was getting to his feet, heading toward Logan's tank. A few moments later, he was lifting the older man out with his mind.

Laura watched the commotion, her eyebrows pressed together. Sweat began to bead on her forehead again. So much trigger scent...

"You okay?" Josh, beside her.

"Stay away." She mumbled this into the mask.

Logan was on his feet now. _Snikt!_ He charged toward the sand cloud, which cleared momentarily.

"Careful!" Santo yelled.

 _BLAM!_ as Logan rammed his claws into her face, so hard they retracted into his knuckles. "ARRGH!" He rang his hand. "God _damn._ "

"Yeah! Told yah!" Santo raised his arms, to show his missing hands. "Punched her so hard the first time that my fists broke."

The sand cloud condensed, then shot toward Kimura again, and travelled up her nose.

"GNNNH!" Kimura kicked Logan away with one swing of her foot and grabbed Cessily by her arm. "You really think that's going to do _anything_ to me?! I'm invulnerable inside and out, idiots!" She blew the stream of sand into the air, and Sooraya suddenly reformed and fell to her knees, her eyes squeezing shut.

Josh, who had scrambled toward the fight, grabbed Kimura by the wrist, his fingers glowing gold.

Kimura rolled her eyes and made a flicking motion with her fingers. He flew backwards, bumping into Cessily, who formed herself into a net, cushioning his impact.

"Thanks!" Josh gasped.

James had drawn one of his blades and leapt toward Kimura. He jammed it against her back, only to see it bend up to the hilt. "…"

" _Damn._ " Domino was standing against the wall of the room, her forehead wrinkled. She raised her gun hesitantly but did not fire. Vanisher was standing beside her, looking rather queasy.

Laura felt the dark fingers creeping into her vision again. She pressed her face into the mask. _No, no…_ if she attacked them, Kimura would win. But Kimura _always_ won, did they not know that? Why even fight—

"Hey." Julian was kneeling in front of her, doing something. _Click!_ Her shackles opened. Then, _clink!_ as the bullet that had been lodged in her frontal lobe fell to the ground. Her vision corrected itself, the doubled images merging.

He put a hand on her shoulder. ""Any ideas on how we kill her?"

"You can't."

He looked over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing. "You're _Sarah_ , aren't you?"

"Yes." Sarah paused. "I made—"

"I know _all_ about what you made." Julian got to his feet. "How do we break the invulnerability?"'

Sarah shook her head. "She's flawless. Nothing can kill her." She looked down at Laura. "I thought…I hoped she would leave you alone. If I gave her what she wanted…so I completed the invulnerability treatment." Sarah paused. "I'm sorry."

Laura closed her eyes.

Julian gazed at Sarah for a moment, remembering. The words she had written in her letter. _I didn't know Sutter was having me design the treatment for her skin. I thought it was for yours. So I made her unbreakable. Flawlessly unbreakable. Even then, so early on, he was planning this. All of this. I thought Rice was the sick one, but at least he was motivated by anger. Sutter by greed. I by curiosity. Kimura by nothing but the sound of your screams._

"Nothing." Julian paused, then looked at Kimura again, as she swung Logan around by his leg, his claws slicing through Cessily's side like a hot knife through butter. "That's it."

"…" Laura scrambled upward. "What—"

Julian was heading toward Kimura, holding out his hand. There was a green flicker of light around her skin, then it died, interrupted by the vibranium.

"Hah!" Kimura grinned at him, made a come-here motion with one hand, as she flicked Logan away again with the other. "For a guy with brain powers, you're _really_ stupid, you know that?"

The green flicker appeared again, a little farther out.

Logan, who was charging again, paused. He was missing an arm, which Kimura had ripped off at the shoulder. "Clear off!" he ordered Santo and James, who were still closing in on her.

Kimura raised an eyebrow. "Poison gas? Go ahead and try."

The field finally formed around her, a bubble about three feet in diameter. Julian had done this earlier, when he had removed the trigger scent from Laura's bubble. He just needed to take out _everything_ this time. Which was trickier, but…he closed his eyes, focused, trying to feel the negative space inside the field. The air. He focused on removing it.

"What are you doing?!" Kimura shouted. "Stop it! I…"

He opened his eyes. She was grasping at her throat, her expression odd as she tried to inhale, but found nothing.

He could stop there. Invulnerable or not, Kimura would die without air, soon. Minutes. His eyes slid to Laura, frozen in place, the mask still pressed against her face. No. That would be too easy. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Kimura again, and then he began to decrease the size of the bubble.

Blood began to pour from her eyes, her ears, the corners of her mouth. She glared at him. Then her eyes slid shut. She was beginning to look odd. Distorted.

 _BLAM!_

The walls of the field were covered in red.

Silence.

Julian let the bubble dissipate, and the smoking remains fell to the ground, a red mist hanging in the air that rushed in.

 _Clunk!_ Laura dropped the mask she was holding and approached the area, her eyebrows drawn together. She eyed the body, which was mangled. Unrecognizable. Not definitely Kimura. Something she had never felt before bubbled up in the pit of her stomach.

 _Snkkt!_

"AAHHG!" She yelled, stabbing downward with her fist, her teeth gritted. _Shlunk!_ As her claws passed through this thing. This thing that may or may not have been Kimura. _Shlunk! Shlunk! Shlunk!_

"Kid." Logan grabbed her with his single arm and dragging her backward. "Stop. She's gone. It's over."

Laura struggled. "THAT IS NOT HER!" She tried to reach behind, to stab Logan. She was almost successful, since he only had the one arm to hold her with. "NOT OVER! LET ME—"

"Here—" Josh grabbed Laura's wrist.

There was a brief golden glow. _Paft!_

Her head wilted to the side.

Julian gazed at Kimura's remains. He was barely restraining himself from continuing Laura's attack. Just barely. His fists smoked, and he closed his eyes, shook his head. Not now. He had to keep it together.

"So." Logan, bending down and picking up his severed arm. "You who I think you are?" He pressed the limb against his shoulder socket, wincing slightly.

"Yes." Sarah hesitated. "She was right. This isn't over."

"…" Julian looked at Sarah. "That better be followed with an explanation." He wondered if he should be taking her down, too, but Laura might not want her dead. He could wait.

"Kimura was raising an army." Sarah paused. "For Selene."

"Selene…" Logan raised an eyebrow. "Damn, that name's familiar." His lip curled. "I got a feelin' it ain't a good thing."

 _Julian!_ Frost's voice was sharp, filled with panic. He tensed as she continued to speak into his mind.

"No." Sarah said this quietly. "Just before you attacked, Kimura had a mutant named Blink teleport that army to—"

"Oh my god." Julian looked at Logan. "The school. Frost just called us in. They went there." Pause. " _All_ of them."

Cessily looked at him sharply. Her eyes had been trained on the floor for the last several minutes, as if she couldn't process what was happening. "We have to go."

"…" Logan looked at Vanisher, who had been lurking on the periphery of the room. "Get us back there, Porter. _Now._ "

"Hey! Creepy girl violated our deal earlier. I'm not taking anyone anywhere. Ever." He paused. "Not until terms are renegotiated."

Josh reached for his wrist again.

Vanisher folded his arms. "Threaten me all you want. Not going to work. I want _cash._ "

Santo frowned at him. "I got a gift card to Red Lobster from my aunt...you take that?"

"…" Vanisher closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose. "No. I don't want your gift card to Red Lobster _,_ kid. I want cash. MONEY. Millions of it."

"I could make you _hate_ money." Julian paused. "I might do it anyway."

"We don't have millions." Cessily looked at Logan, her forehead wrinkled. "Do we?"

"Please…" Sooraya spoke up. "Please do this."

"Okay, okay!" Vanisher glared at them all. "You _owe_ me!"

 _VTT!_


	30. Chapter 30 - Comfort

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks so much to all for the reviews, glad the Kimura fight was enjoyable! I must admit, that one took me a while to write. I realized that I'd built Kimura up to be such a mega villain in this story that it had to be a really satisfying chapter, haha. For fluff fans, still some darkness ahead, I'm afraid...but hang in there. There's light at the end of the tunnel. Hope you all enjoy! :)

* * *

CHAPTER 30

 _Comfort_

* * *

Laura came to slowly. For a moment, she wondered if she had just had a vivid dream. It was dark, but not quite dark enough to activate her night vision. She wrinkled her nose, made a soft noise.

"You okay?" Julian's voice. Beside her. She could hear his heartbeat, feel his warmth near her skin.

She raised her head. "Why—"

"Josh knocked you out." He paused. "We're at the school. It's under attack."

Laura sat up slightly, stiffening. "My clones—"

"Yeah." He frowned. "Frost has them in her office. They're okay. Scared, but okay."

"Who is attacking?"

"Someone called Selene. She's in charge of all this. She had them teleported here."

Laura hesitated. "Is Sarah—"

"Yeah." Julian's voice was harsh now. He did not like her creator. "Logan took her somewhere. A hotel." He paused. "She's fine."

Her eyebrows drew together, and she took a deeper breath. She had remembered something else. Something important. "Kimura is—"

"Yep."

Laura closed her eyes. "Thank you." The words felt insufficient.

He stiffened. "I didn't just do it for _you._ " His voice was sharp. "I did it for myself. And the girls. And everyone else that Kimura fucked up along the way."

She hesitated. "Still. Thank you."

"Sure." He rose to his feet. "Now that you're up…got work to do." His tone made it clear that he was done with the conversation.

Laura nodded slightly. Yes, there was work to be done. There always seemed to be work to be done. For a moment, she was irritated. She wanted…she was not sure what she wanted. Time to think, perhaps. To absorb what had happened. Perhaps to ask questions. Or to—

 _VTT!_

"Not that I care or anything, but Wolverine said you guys need to regroup." Vanisher.

Julian nodded. "Port us in."

 _VTT!_

Chaos. People fighting. Loud noises. Light flashes everywhere. It was almost as if she was back in the exercise Frost had held several years ago. Laura was on the main staircase. She had barely recognized this when a bright pink light came shearing through the air toward her. The same kind that she had seen out in the compound grounds. She scrambled backward.

 _BLINK!_

The staircase beneath her feet disappeared. Several bodies tumbled to the wood floor below, the upper halves missing. Laura was not sure who they were. She was hanging on to the top stairs by her fingertips. It made creaking noises, about to give way.

Julian was reaching out. "Here."

She grabbed his metal hand and allowed him to haul her over the edge.

"You okay? That didn't—" he began, but then turned his head.

Laura could hear it coming too. A heavy set of footsteps, charging toward them. Metal sounds. Rock sounds. Familiar. They rounded the corner and she remembered. The person who had charged them in that same exercise. Onyxx. Her eyebrows drew together. He smelled like the other attackers: stagnant. Dead.

"RRRRAHHHHHGGGGHHHH!" Onyxx roared as he thundered towards them.

She crouched slightly. _Snkkt!_

Julian grabbed her around the waist and pulled her up with him. Together they watched as Onyxx ran right over the edge of the stairs and sailed through the air, crashing on top of several attackers that were fighting Angel below. Laura raised an eyebrow. But before she could comment, a wall of flame engulfed them. She raised her arm instinctively to protect her face, but then she realized that the fire was not touching her skin through his shield.

Julian reached out and sent the assailant flying backwards, into the wall. The plaster cracked around the man's body. "Fucking Vanisher took off." Pause. "Logan wants us to help get Frost and the others down to the danger room. Shouldn't waste time on these guys."

"Yes." Laura glanced at him. "Then we should find this Selene."

"Agreed."

He flew them down the hallway, over the heads of the combatants. Upstairs was as filled with chaos as the lower levels had been. Laura wondered if any of their friends had died yet. But then he was setting them down, outside the Headmistress's door. She slipped a claw through the lock and pushed it open as he concentrated on shoving a wave of attackers back, then they both slipped into the office.

The room was dark. Frost was sitting behind her desk, in her diamond form. Without light to reflect, she looked more like clear glass. She pushed her chair away and rose to her feet. "Thank goodness."

Laura counted the other heartbeats in the room. Gabby. Betty. Alice. She relaxed slightly, as her clones slowly emerged around the corner of the desk. Their eyes were wide.

"No one has been harmed." Frost paused. "None of the girls, at least."

"X-23!" Betty exclaimed, throwing herself against Laura's leg.

"We offered to assist with the attack, but the diamond ordered us to remain in the room." Gabby, frowning, as if she was ashamed of this. "It was very shrill and insistent."

"The voice hurts our ears." Alice whispered this.

"It has many modifications." Betty wrinkled her nose, looked up at Laura. "I am certain its voice box was among these."

"It must have been even more shrill before the modification." Gabby.

"Ugh." Alice.

"…" Julian glanced at Frost. "They're kind of blunt."

She raised an eyebrow. "So I have noticed. But, frankly, I find it refreshing. It is rare to find someone who always says exactly what they are thinking. And, yet, here are _three_ such individuals." Her voice was flat.

He paused. "True."

"We need to leave now." Laura's voice was firm.

"Yes." Frost paused. "We will put the girls in the danger room…and I will go to Cerebra. Perhaps I can make contact with Selene from there. Discover her motives for this attack."

Julian looked at Laura. "I've got the girls." Pause. "You should stick with Frost. Keep her safe while she's busy. We'll split off in the basement."

Laura hesitated. She did not want to be separated from her clones. But she nodded.

They headed for the door again.

* * *

"Here." Frost was pressing her palm against the palm print reader, and then the door to Cerebra slid open.

Laura paused, glanced over her shoulder. Julian was leading her clones away, his shield extending to cover their skin. She knew he would not let anything happen, but she still did not want to leave them.

Frost punched someone beside her, a girl, preventing her from charging into Cerebra after them. "We must go." Her voice was firm.

Laura shook her head slightly, then stepped into the room. The door slid shut after her.

"We should be safe in here, unless someone breaks the lock mechanism." Frost paused. "I will ask you to stand guard while I am otherwise occupied."

Laura nodded. She watched as Frost headed down the catwalk to the large metal seat and sat down.

"Hopefully the next few minutes will provide some clarity on this situation." Frost lowered the helmet onto her head and closed her eyes.

Laura turned around and settled her gaze on the door, listening for intruders. There were some muffled thumps against the metal, but the lock was holding. She tried to focus on the task, but another thought was nagging. Had the others reached the danger room by now? Would he stay with her clones? Or would—

"I have located Selene." Frost paused. "She is…here for something. A dagger. The people she has brought back…they are sacrifices."

Laura looked at her. "For Bastion?"

Frost shook her head. "No. She is acting for her own motives." Frost paused. "But she is using an opportunity Bastion provided. The technard transmode virus. He gave it to her…and she used it to reanimate our unwelcome guests."

Laura closed her eyes, remembering what Logan had said, as to Bastion's motives for the Legacy attacks. _Distraction. That's what he's gettin'. He knows we're not goin' to let innocent people die…he's keepin' us busy with appetizers, while he cooks the main course._ Did the same thing apply here? If this was not the ultimate attack, then what was Bastion planning? "Where is she?"

"I can't tell." Frost paused. "Wait. The cemetery."

"Please inform Julian that I am going there." She headed toward the door.

Frost lifted the helmet from her head and rose to her feet. "I have instructed him to initiate the lock-down program and meet us."

"You should remain—" Laura began.

"Here? While my old rival resurrects my boyfriend's dead wife?" Frost arched her eyebrows, her skin melting away as she transformed to her diamond form. "Hardly."

* * *

Laura and Frost fought their way up the emergency stairs, since the elevators had been disabled, and to the front doors of the school. The latter was a surprisingly competent fighter, executing several well-performed defensive and offensive moves. There was room for improvement, but it was better than she had expected of the telepath.

They reached the door. Then Frost paused, turning back and staring at a girl, with light green skin and long, black hair. She was dressed in tattered, dark clothes which had once had long fringes.

"Ellie?" Frost's voice was soft.

The girl said nothing.

"Htt—" Frost was momentarily surrounded by a slight, colored aura.

Laura looked to the side and saw a boy. It was difficult to discern other details about him, as he was made out of diamond. He was staring back at Frost, his features contorting.

Frost was gazing beyond him now, at another group of people that were approaching. All wore tattered red outfits. Some sort of team? Frost's eyebrows had drawn together, and her mouth had opened slightly, but she did not speak.

"You let us _die!_ " One of them hissed. A boy. It was difficult to tell much beyond that. His face had decayed too much.

"We trusted you!" Another added. Possibly a girl.

"No!" Laura reached out to grab Frost's arm as she stepped toward this group.

The diamond sheen faded as color returned to Frost's skin. She looked at Laura. Her eyes were damp. "My former students." Her voice was hollow.

Laura shook her head. "We need to go."

Frost lowered her gaze. "I failed them…I let them die." She paused. "I always let everyone die." Her voice was small.

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She understood this all too well. But the situation did not allow for them to lose focus. Or they would lose. "Do not let us die _now._ "

"…" Frost hesitated, looked back at the approaching students, then nodded. Her skin began to harden again as she prepared to fight, but then their attackers were swept aside.

Julian was pushing them outside now. "Why did you stop?!"

Frost's forehead wrinkled, and her mouth opened, but she did not speak.

Laura saw this. "Are my clones safe?"

He frowned. "Yeah. Took me a bit to figure out the settings, but no one should be able to break in."

"Good." As they walked toward the cemetery, she thought of what she had told Frost. _Do not let us die_ now. She sensed that this applied to herself, as well, but she could not understand how. She would need to revisit it later.

Flashes of light ahead. She focused on her surroundings, and saw that there were many people fighting out here on the front lawn, too. A glint of metal caught her eye, and then Cessily was snaking toward her through the grass and grabbing her by the elbows.

"You're okay?" Cessily's eyes were wide, and her eyebrows drawn together. "Wolverine told us to follow him out here and then… I lost track of everyone…and I've just been fighting whoever I don't recognize, y'know?"

Laura frowned. "Yes. We are going to the cemetery."

"Oh." Cessily grimaced. "Why?"

"Probably nothing good." Julian's voice was flat.

Frost shook her head. "Perhaps you should stay here. All of you."

"Uh—" Cessily's forehead wrinkled.

"No, we're coming." Julian folded his arms. "You can't handle this alone."

Laura thought of Frost's earlier reaction to seeing her students. She felt responsible for their deaths. "We are choosing to come."

Frost closed her eyes, then nodded.

As they reached the cemetery, it became apparent that there was a group of people huddled around a grave, close to the gate.

"Selene doesn't need Jean Grey for this." Frost paused. "She is going the extra mile to spite me." Her voice and scent were filling with anger.

"Is that—" Cessily broke away. " _Kevin?_ "

One of the people glanced at her. He had pale skin, which Laura could decipher only from his thin face. The rest was covered by his long coat, high shirt collar, and gloves.

Julian stiffened beside her. He recognized him, too. "Don't let him touch you." He mumbled this to her.

"Selene." Frost was heading toward the group, addressing the woman in the center. "This has gone far enough."

Selene looked at her dismissively, her aquiline nose wrinkling as if she had smelled something foul. "Emma Frost." She was dressed similarly to Frost, but in dark colors, matching her long, silky black hair. Her skin was as pale as Kevin's, perhaps even more so.

Kevin stepped in front of Frost, slipping off his glove.

"No!" Cessily grabbed his hand. "Kevin, what are you doing?! We're your _friends!_ "

"Right." Kevin twisted his arm free. "Such good friends. You didn't even look for me." His lip was curled.

"I—" she began, her eyebrows drawn together.

He shoved her away. "Get out of my face! I don't want to see you again, got it?"

Laura noticed beads of mercury had begun to run down Cessily's cheeks. They must be tears. She hesitated, uncertain of what should be done. She felt she should protect her friend, but perhaps her friend did not want to be protected. Cessily had spoken of Kevin in the past. This was the person she had once wanted as her partner. And possibly still did. If it were Julian, she knew that she would not leave.

Julian put a hand on Cessily's shoulder with a small _clink._ "Cess—I think you should wait outside." His voice wavered slightly. He was also uncertain of what to do.

Her eyebrows drew together. "So you can kill him? No! I won't let you!" Her voice was harsh. "Just because he's lost his way, doesn't mean we have to throw his life away! That's not the answer to every problem!"

Laura hesitated. "We will not kill him."

Cessily looked at her. "Do you _promise?_ "

She paused, then nodded. "Yes."

Julian glanced at her, an eyebrow raised.

 _VTT!_

They were now surrounded by the rest of the team.

"She's head bitch." Logan pointed at Selene. "Flank 'em."

"Got it." James was already charging, as was Domino. Sooraya was bursting into sand. But Blink was ready for them. Laura recognized her, Kimura's teleporter from the facility. She threw a pink, diamond-shaped shard toward them. _BLINK!_ Logan, Domino, and Sooraya disappeared, but James rolled on the grass, having ducked at the last moment. He was soon engaged in combat with another of Selene's men that Laura did not recognize.

"Go get Logan!" Julian yelled at Vanisher.

"God fucking dammit!" Vanisher swore. "I'm not a dog you can tell to fetch things! How about a mother fucking 'please' now and then?!" But a moment later, he disappeared with a _VTT!_

Kevin spotted Josh, and his eyes narrowed. "You…" He peeled off his other glove and stomped toward him. "Do you know _how_ long I've been waiting to _kill_ you?!" He grabbed Josh's face from behind with his bare hand. Dark threads spread through his gold skin.

"Hrrrk—" Josh staggered, his eyes bulging. Then he grabbed Kevin's bare wrist, his own fingers beginning to glow gold.

"STOP IT!" Cessily started to snake toward them.

"NO!" Julian grabbed her wrist, which was stretching. "Stay back! You can't get in between that—"

" _You_ stay out of it!" Cessily glared at him. "Let GO—"

"I got it." Santo was suddenly there. He put an arm around Cessily's shoulder. "C'mon. This ain't our kind of fight."

"But—" her forehead wrinkled.

"Nope." Santo paused. "Can't help someone who don't want to be helped…and you _know_ Kevin ain't lookin' for help right now."

Cessily looked over at Kevin and Josh, then down at the ground. She nodded slightly and offered no further protest as Santo guided her away.

Julian looked at Josh and Kevin again, who seemed engaged in a deadlock. He glanced at Laura. "Think I should separate them?"

She shook her head. "Selene is our target."

"Yeah." Julian frowned, but turned away, toward Selene.

She was standing, over Jean Grey-Summer's grave, speaking in hushed tones and making symbols with her hands. Laura popped her claws with a _Snkkt,_ and began to run, planning to execute a leap, but at the last moment she hit an invisible barrier and was knocked aside. She fell to her knees in the grass. Behind her, others were attacking, and failing. Frost had flown backward, as had Julian. Her forehead wrinkled, and she watched as one of the woman's companions dragged James in front of her by his long hair.

"This is Warpath." The man yanked his head back, and grinned. "He's got a present for you."

Selene reached out, and one of James's daggers flew to her hand. She ran her finger along the edge, then tossed it aside, and summoned the other one. She smiled. "Yes. This is the one I have been searching for. I can feel it." She turned to Kevin. "Wither…come here."

Kevin shoved Josh away and walked toward her calmly, as if the fight did not even matter to him. Josh yelled and tried to chase him, but he fell to his knees, too, overcome by whatever force Selene was exuding. Then he passed out.

"Excellent." Selene smiled at Kevin as he came to stand before her, tilting her head to study him, as if she wanted to remember this moment. "My Wither. Most loyal of my followers." She paused. "You will be honored above all others." Then she held up the dagger.

Kevin nodded, smiling back at her.

 _Shlunk!_

Laura's eyebrows drew together, as she watched Kevin fall to his knees. His eyes slid shut, and then he sank the rest of the way to the ground. His vital signs faded, and then he was gone. There was a bright blue glow, from the dagger, then up to Selene's hand. She began to grow in size. "Yes. _Finally._ Now…for the last part." She dropped the dagger and reached out toward Jean Grey-Summer's grave.

"No!" Julian reached out too. The soil burst into green flames.

"…" Selene looked down at him. "I'll _kill_ you for that!"

Laura scrambled upward, ready to leap in front of whatever attack was coming next.

James grabbed the dagger Selene had dropped from the ground and buried it in her chest, right over her heart.

Selene stared at him for a moment, her eyes bulging. Then she exploded into the same blue light that she had glowed with a moment before. The people standing around her dropped to their knees as Wither had, their eyes glowing. As did the people fighting on the front lawn. And probably the ones inside the school. Everyone that she had reanimated.

Then, suddenly, Julian, James, and Laura were staring at each other in the cemetery, in the dark. A few feet away were the bodies of Kevin, Josh, and Frost, the latter two of which were unconscious.

Julian was the first to speak. "Did that really just happen?"

"Yes." Laura paused. "Is it over?"

"Think so." James frowned, looking at his dagger. "Damn, to think I've just been carrying this around on my belt…I knew it was special but…"

Julian looked at him. "Please get a new one. _Please."_ He paused. "I'll pay for it."

"I'll look into it." James looked over, at where Frost was lying in the grass. "She okay?"

Frost twitched slightly but did not answer.

"Probably." Julian rose to his feet. He looked over at Kevin's body, then at Josh, who was getting up. "Can you do anything about him?"

"Uh…" Josh crawled over, placed his hand against Kevin's forehead. There was a brief glow, and a gentle _paft!_ but no response. He closed his eyes, shook his head. "I healed the stab wound…but whatever she did was permanent. He's gone."

"Fuck." Julian looked down. "Poor Cess."

Laura hesitated, then stood. "I will inform her."

He stiffened, glanced at her. "No. You're the _last_ person I would ever pick to tell her."

"Tell me what?" Cessily was snaking toward them. She saw Kevin, and she came to a stop, her eyes widening.

"Cess…" Julian paused, his eyebrows drawing together. "I'm sorry—there was nothing we could—"

"Was—was it _you?!_ " Cessily glared at him. "Did you do this? _Did_ you?!"

"No." Laura hesitated. She knew that if it was her, she would want as many facts as possible. "Selene killed Kevin. She stabbed him through the chest at a 70 degree angle, destroying his left ventricle and severing the aorta. Death occurred between heartbeats." She paused. "He wanted her to."

Silence.

Cessily covered her face with her hand and turned away.

Julian glared at Laura, his hands forming fists. For a moment his eyes glowed. "The hell, Laura?" His lip curled. "I can't believe I ever saw anything in you. You're just…a _machine_. Come on, Cess." He put his arm around her shoulders and began to guide her back toward the school, shaking his head.

Laura stood for a moment, her eyebrows drawn together, claws shaking slightly. She was confused by what had just transpired. Her eyes burned, and she looked down.

"Damn." Josh glanced at Laura. "You okay?"

"Yes." She was uncertain about what to do next.

 _VTT!_

"Fuckin' teleporters!" Logan snarled. _Snikt!_ "Alright, where's Selene?"

Domino flicked the safety off her gun.

Sooraya frowned. "She is...gone?"

James shrugged. "We got her."

Laura looked at Vanisher, no longer focusing on the conversation. "Take me to where you took Sarah. The woman from Madripoor."

Vanisher folded his arms. "I've been porting people around all night—"

Laura closed her eyes. "Please." She felt tired. Very tired.

He paused.

 _VTT!_

Laura was suddenly in the middle of a hotel room. She looked around and saw Sarah sitting on the bed. She felt unexpected relief and realized she had been afraid that she had ceased to exist, along with the other reanimated beings under Selene's control. "Thank you."

Vanisher mumbled something to himself and disappeared with another _VTT!_

"Laura." Sarah got to her feet, her eyes wide. "Is Selene—"

"Yes." Laura pushed up her mask. "Why are you alive?" Now that the mission was over, and she could focus on her own emotions, she realized that she felt anger. Deep, inexplicable anger. This was a painful memory she had not expected to revisit in such a manner.

"Kimura needed me." Sarah paused. "She specifically requested I be…brought back."

Kimura. Laura's lip curled. "The other infected ceased to function when Selene died." She glared at her creator. "That means you are one of Bastion's constructs." Her tone was accusatory.

Sarah hesitated. "Yes."

"How do I know you are not under his control?" Laura popped her claws with a _Snkkt!_ "You may be reporting to him." How would she get the truth? All she could detect was the stagnant, metal death smell.

"No, I…" Sarah frowned, gazing at her.

"Answer me!" Laura yelled, frustrated. Her eyes burned. She wanted this day to end. This day full of confusing situations and important moments that had been interrupted by people who wanted to cause more pain.

Sarah shook her head. "I'm sorry. It's just…you've grown _so much._ I can hardly believe it. How…how _old_ are you now?" She paused, lowered her voice. "How long have I been dead?"

"…" Laura paused. She did not know if she could trust this woman. Yet. But the question did not seem to involve vital information. "Seven years."

Sarah's eyebrows drew together. "And you…" she closed her eyes. "You killed me."

"Yes." Laura paused. She did not want to think of the moment, but the memory came to her anyway. She had walked down the steps from the facility and saw her mother waiting for her, arms outstretched, smiling. Then she had inhaled, and her vision had faded to black, instantly and completely. "Rice…Rice used trigger scent."

"Yes." Sarah's nose wrinkled. "He's dead?"

Laura nodded, her lip curling again.

"Good." Sarah smiled slightly. "I saw…you resisted trigger scent today. Did you break the programming?"

"I…yes." Laura nodded again, just faintly. "In part." Her eyebrows drew together. She was trying to maintain her distrust, but it was growing more difficult. She hesitated several times, then she could not help herself. "Mother?" she asked finally.

"Yes." Tears were trailing down Sarah's cheeks. She held out her arms.

 _WUMP!_ Laura closed her eyes, breathed in her strange, metallic, dead-but-not smell. Under it, she could detect the only scent she had never come to fear in the facility. The scent that meant better food. Stories. Her hair being brushed. Comfort.


	31. Chapter 31 - What If

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the reviews! I'm so glad readers are still enjoying the story. Some comments on the previous chapter, that will likely answer some of the questions posed:

Last chapter was based on a comic cross over event called Necrosha. This happened mostly like it did in Change: Selene used Bastion's T.O. virus (technar transmode strain) to resurrect a couple million dead mutants, including those that died in Genosha, then went to Utopia in California, bringing a whole bunch of her resurrected mutants with her and completely overwhelming the X-men. She stole one of Warpaths blades, which was actually a vibranium ceremonial dagger (the real reason she attacked the X-men) and did some kind of ritual that sacrificed most of her constructs/stole their souls, which she absorbed, turning her into a god. Warpath led some of the X-men on a tribal "ghost dance" to fight evil spirits, then managed to kill her using the same dagger. During this fight, Josh kills Kevin. The differences here are:

-Kimura's involvement. I figured she wasn't quite smart enough to be a big bad herself, but she could definitely be a lieutenant for another bad.  
\- The event happened in New York instead of Utopia, since the X-men haven't moved in Change.  
\- I eliminated the ghost dance because I didn't address Warpath's storyline much in here, and I also felt wary of cultural appropriation.  
-I decided not to have Josh kill Kevin, but instead Selene kills him. I wanted to do something different, also figured it would feel more "final" to Cessily if he died for another woman vs. one of her friends killed him.

In regards to Sarah: Yes, she is actually resurrected. She is one of Bastion's small circle of resurrectees. As you may recall, he also resurrected people like William Stryker and Graydon Creed, as busy work for the X-men, as well as to help him achieve his master scheme. (This happened in the comics as well). The T.O. virus, technar transmode strain, has the ability to resurrect the dead, I imagine by regenerating decayed tissue based on the body's DNA. I figured the quality of the resurrections is a step above the mass resurrections that Selene performed. Additionally, Bastion's original resurrections were performed much longer agoand so the resurrectees had a longer time to regenerate, so they are now in good condition, whereas Selene's mass resurrection happened recently.

Here, Sarah was the price for Harkins and Kimura to work on the mass cloning/trigger scent/resurrection projects, as they needed her skills and mind in excellent condition. Bastion's resurrectees behave normally (he is able to send Creed out to deliver speeches and reenter politics) but are under his control. It was demonstrated in the comics with the Leper Queen that she was aware of what she was doing, and behaved as she usually did, but he was in control of her agenda. She eventually managed to get Laura to kill her, because she wanted freedom. The Leper Queen was _not_ one of the resurrectees in the comics, but I made the leap that it probably works the same for those he resurrected. So, it's possible/probable that Bastion could control Sarah if he wished since he is the apex machine, but she was not resurrected for his direct purposes or given an agenda to follow besides the orders the facility gave her, and so he is not concentrating on her/actively sending orders. It remains to be seen how this will play out, but I can say that: Sarah's part in the story will not be cruel.

Whew that was a lot! Enjoy... :)

* * *

CHAPTER 31

 _What If_

* * *

"I had…planned to bring you here. Someday." Sarah paused. "When you were ready."

Laura said nothing. They were entering the school. The combat was over now, and she wanted to see that the clones were unharmed. Also, she wished to show them to her mother, as they were effectively her creations as well. Sarah may have seen the project at the facility, but most likely had not met these particular clones. She was aware that she may be biased, but felt they were special.

They climbed the main staircase, which had been restored. The bodies had been removed. Here and there, Laura could still detect damage to paintings or sculptures, but considering the scope of Selene's attack, very few signs of the recent battle remained.

"Has Weapon X…Logan…raised you?" Sarah asked.

Laura shook her head.

"Why?" She sounded surprised.

"I did…not come here right away." Laura frowned.

"Oh." Pause. "Where did you go?"

"Elsewhere." Laura headed down the hallway, toward Frost's office, and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

She opened the door.

 _WUMP! WUMP! WUMP!_

The air was filled by three high-pitched voices talking at once.

"Have you been in a battle? _We_ have—" Gabby.

"I made a new friend—" Alice.

"There were reanimated individuals everywhere—" Betty.

"—we were prepared to engage but—" Gabby.

"—we were concerned that something had gone wrong—" Betty.

"—but then she ran out of batteries and was dead again—"Alice.

"—Julian was _rude_ and _interruptive_ and—" Gabby.

"—perhaps a gas leak—" Betty.

"Stop." Laura said this firmly. "You are to speak one at a time. You _know_ this."

"Perhaps you should grow more ears." Betty, her eyebrows arched.

Alice gasped and covered her mouth.

Gabby gave Betty a severe look, shook her head.

"Clones." Sarah sank to her knees to study them, squinting slightly. "Yours. Risky."

The three girls stared at her, their noses twitching.

Laura was about to ask her what this meant.

Frost cleared her throat. "Dr. Kinney, I presume." She had stood from her desk and was moving toward the door.

Sarah looked up at her, then rose to her feet. "Yes."

"I am Emma Frost, headmistress. And Laura's teacher." Frost extended her gloved hand.

Sarah shook it. The women eyed each other.

"Hmm." Frost's eyebrows arched. "My records indicated you were…deceased." Pause. "Would your return happen to be at all related to our recent resurgence of familiar faces?"

"Bastion did this." Laura paused. "Not Selene."

Frost glanced at her. "Interesting. I wonder what the difference is."

Sarah hesitated. "I'll help in any way that I can…if you want to study me. But I don't know much about his intentions."

"That would be appreciated." Frost pursed her lips for a moment. "Well, I suppose you will be needing a place to stay while you regain your footing. I can only imagine how unsettling it must be to try to orientate one's self after seven years of death."

Sarah eyed her. "Thank you."

"Of course." Frost looked at Laura again. "I do believe you will want to feed your charges. They refused my offer of grilled cheese sandwiches earlier because they feared I would add poison, for some odd reason."

"It is possible she is a witch." Alice whispered this, tightening her hold on Laura's leg.

Frost smiled slightly at Laura. "Possible, but unlikely."

"I will correct this." She paused. "Thank you for supervising them."

"Anytime."

Laura looked down at her clones. "Remove yourselves from my legs and perform introductions. One at a time."

Gabby, as usual, went first. "Gabby."

Betty followed. "Betty."

And Alice trailed. "Alicia von Wilhelm the fourth." She paused. "I am an artist."

Laura gazed at her. "She is lying. Her name is Alice."

"It's nice to meet you all. My name is Sarah." She hesitated. "I am Laura's mother."

Pause. Three sets of green eyes widened.

"You _created_ X-23?" Gabby asked, her voice full of awe.

They began to speak all at once again.

Laura felt mild irritation. "Be silent. We are getting food now."

"May we have grilled cheese sandwiches without poison?" Alice inquired.

"…" Laura closed her eyes. "Yes."

* * *

Laura pulled out a stack of bread and began to arrange it on plates, thinking. Alice had most likely formed her false ideas from the tales she had begun reading the clones at night, from the book of Grimm's Fairytales that Sarah had given her. The one she had read them last night involved a "witch" giving a poisoned apple to a girl, among other elements. It seemed she would need to add disclaimers to the beginnings of future stories.

She stiffened, hearing footsteps approaching the door. Julian. She had not allowed herself to think about him since yesterday, nor did she want to now. But the clones needed to be fed, and this was a common area. She settled for stabbing a spreading spatula into the margarine instead.

The door opened, and she heard him pause. Then he cleared his throat. "Hey."

Laura ignored him. She began to spread margarine over the bread slices, more aggressively than she might have done otherwise.

"Look." He paused. "I, um, I've been meaning to apologize for…for what I said. The other night."

She reached for a cheese slice off the small stack and began to unwrap one.

"I was…really upset." He hesitated. "You were being insensitive, but I—"

Laura glanced at him. "I did not ask you." Her tone was cool.

Julian stiffened.

She tore off another wrapper and slapped the cheese on the bread.

"Well, you don't talk to me." He folded his arms, leaned on the doorframe. "So if I don't say something, no one does."

Laura remained silent as she finished applying the cheese to the sandwiches, then carried the stack to the stove.

"Whatever." Julian shifted. "So, what's the deal with Sarah? She with Bastion?"

"No." Laura removed a large frying pan from the hanging rack, set it on a burner, and turned it on before placing the sandwiches to cook.

"You trust her?"

She went to the fridge and, opening it, collected several apples. She carried these to the counter. _Snkkt!_

He made a noise of disgust. "Aw, come on. Use a real knife. That's unsanitary."

Laura looked at him. He was watching her, his nose wrinkled. "Again, I did not ask you."

"Yeah but—"

"No." Laura took a step toward him, her eyes narrowing. "Go away."

Julian paused. "You don't mean that."

She said nothing.

He leaned forward. "She might be a security risk. She could be leaking info to Bastion."

Laura glared at him. "Do not kill my mother."

"No, I…" he paused. "I won't. I'm just saying."

Laura returned to the stove, flipped the sandwiches using her fingers.

"You really need to use a spatula."

"…"

Julian sighed. "Fine. Whatever. I tried." He paused. "So, are we good?"

"Good?"

"About yesterday."

Laura moved back to the counter and sliced the apples into pieces. The clones had requested this, for some reason.

"Why do I even _try?_ " he mumbled, after about a minute of silence. "I know it's just going to be more of the same."

She put the slices on a plate, then carried another plate over to the stove. She removed the sandwiches from the pan, and the pan from the burner.

"Are those for the girls?"

Laura picked up the plates and headed for the door.

He held out his hand, touched her arm. "Look, just _talk_ to me, alright?" He paused. "I...I know you've been through a lot. Kimura…your mom…I _want_ to be there for you. But you have to let me."

"No, I do not." Laura closed her eyes and brushed past him.

She carried the food out to the cafeteria area, where her clones were waiting at one table. She had barely put the plate down by the time they had taken all the sandwiches and began stuffing their faces.

Sarah smiled. "They must be hungry."

"Yes." Laura took a seat beside her. "Are you certain—"

"Yes. I'm not hungry. Thank you." Her mother paused. "I think...I don't need food anymore."

"Oh." Laura's eyebrows drew together, and she looked up as the kitchen door opened as Julian stepped out, then approached them.

"Hi." He held his hand out to Sarah. "Julian Keller. Nice to meet you."

"Hello." Sarah shook his hand briefly, then glanced at it, raising her eyebrows. "Interesting. Your hand feels organic. Is that—"

"Techno organic. Same as you." Pause. "Except I'm not one of Bastion's zombie followers." He summoned a chair over and sat down, leaning forward slightly on the table.

Laura's lips pressed into a line.

"Zombie?" Betty paused, then slipped off her chair, moved over to him, and hoisted herself onto his knee. "What's that?"

Julian ruffled her hair gently. "Someone who won't stay dead."

"Because they are not trying hard enough?" Alice guessed.

"…" He grinned. "Yeah, exactly."

Betty glared at Sarah. "You should try harder to remain dead." Her tone was severe.

Gabby licked cheese off her fingers. "Perhaps self-punishment would be helpful."

"I know where the tarps are kept now." Alice leaned forward. "Should I get one?"

Julian's grin faded. "No, that's okay."

Laura closed her eyes. "Kimura taught them to hurt themselves."

A moment passed. Then Sarah placed her hand on hers. "She's dead now."

"Yep." Julian paused. "And yet… _you're_ not."

"Julian." Laura's voice was firm. "Go."

He glanced at her. "No. I'm worried you're going to get hurt when it goes bad."

"Why are you worried about me getting hurt?" Laura gazed at him coolly. "You have implied multiple times that I do not feel."

His eyes widened slightly. "…"

Sarah looked at the clones. "Would you girls be willing to show me around the grounds?"

Three chairs shoved away from the table.

"Can we?" Betty tugged at Laura's sleeve now. "Please!" This sounded like a command.

"We are excellent navigators." Gabby paused. "We never get lost."

"I can draw a map of our intended route." Alice. Pulling a crayon out of the pocket of her overalls.

"No." Laura paused. "I will come with you." She pushed her chair away from the table. "We are done here. Goodbye, Julian."

Julian glared at her but said nothing.

* * *

"The gardens." Laura pointed to the space, her mouth still pressed into a line. "There are places to sit further inside."

"I've never really been one for sitting around." Sarah frowned. "I've always kept myself busy. Except recently, I guess."

"Yes." Laura looked down at the clones. "Do not eat the leaves."

"But Gabby dared me to!" Betty protested.

Gabby glared at her sister.

Laura paused. "'Dared'?"

"Rogue told us about dares." Alice also paused. "She said they are a way that children prove they are 'brave.' Bravery is important in combat, therefore it is a measure of utility."

"We are concerned about maintaining a high utility value." Gabby.

"She suggested I was unable to consume the leaves." Betty pointed at Gabby. "I proved this was false, and so I retained my utility value."

"…" Laura closed her eyes. "This 'daring' is foolish behavior. There will be no more of it."

The girls all looked down.

Laura resumed walking, her eyes trained on the ground. She was silent for a while. The clones ran ahead to a small pond filled with frogs. They liked to observe them. She hoped they would not dare each other to consume these as well.

Sarah cleared her throat. "I know it's not my business…I haven't really been involved in your life. But is something bothering you?" She hesitated. "Maybe your friend from earlier?"

Laura folded her arms. "He…I…no." Her lip curled.

"You seemed to be having a fight."

"He was accusing you of working for the enemy." Laura's voice was clipped. "Bastion."

"I gathered that." Sarah frowned. "I have no way to show you that I'm not. But—"

"I know you are not."

"I'm sorry to be causing you problems."

"You are not." Laura paused. "We…have other problems."

"I thought so." Sarah hesitated. "I wish I could help…but I'm not really good about these things. I never...I focused on my studies through school, then my research afterward." She paused, her eyebrows drawing together. "I didn't want to be with anyone. Not after…I just didn't."

Laura looked at her.

"Besides, Debbie lived enough for the both of us." Sarah smiled slightly. "Have you met her? I mean…after…after that time you saved Megan?"

Laura nodded.

"Good." Sarah nodded too. "I thought I was the smart one…but in the end, I realized it was the other way around."

"You are logical." Laura raised her eyebrows, thinking of how Debbie had been fooled by her boyfriend, Desmond, who had turned out to be a secret facility agent. Or how she had concealed the truth of Megan's kidnapping for so long. "Debbie was illogical."

"Sometimes logical isn't smart." Pause. "Trust me."

Laura sensed that this was a criticism of herself. She folded her arms. "Why are you telling me this?" She paused. "You know what I am. You _made_ me."

Sarah looked down. "I know. I…we spent a lot of time and money making you, Laura. I know exactly what we did." She glanced at Laura again. "You've been free for some time now."

"Kimura recaptured me, as you know." Laura closed her eyes. "For almost two years."

"Yes." Sarah paused. "But she could never quite put you back in the cage, could she?"

Laura hesitated. "No."

"I think you're becoming more than what we made you." Sarah paused. "Your own person. With that comes choices, about what kind of person you want to be." She hesitated. "I just want to say…don't make my mistakes. Sometimes, following what logic tells you to do will lead you down a dark and lonely road."

Laura gazed at her mother, her forehead wrinkling.

"Alice, I dare you to eat that amphibian!" Betty shouted in the background. "I _dare_ you! I _DARE YOU WITH MULTIPLE CANINES!_ "

Laura closed her eyes. " _Betty_!"

* * *

Cessily opened the door, her eyes widening slightly. "Oh—hi, Laura." She had clearly not expected her to visit.

"Hello." Laura hesitated, not quite certain what to say. Afraid she would say the wrong thing. She glanced down, then up again. "Have you recovered?"

"Mostly." Cessily shrugged. "Just…sad. About…you know. Kevin." She frowned. "I knew he wasn't coming back, but…still." She paused. "Why—why did you tell me that awful stuff?"

Laura closed her eyes. "I…it is what I would have wanted to know." She paused. "I regret saying it."

"Oh." Cessily sighed. "No…it's fine. I know you didn't mean bad. It just hurt to hear you talk about it so…coldly. Like he didn't matter, you know?"

Laura said nothing.

Cessily glanced up again. "How have you been? Are the girls okay?"

"Yes." Laura paused. "My mother is here."

"What?!" Cessily grabbed her shoulders and yanked her into the room. "Are you serious?! I thought your mom was-you know." She cringed. "Dead."

"Yes." Laura hesitated. "She has been…reanimated. The T.O. virus."

"Woah." Cessily sat down on her bed. "That's…is she like those guys that attacked us, then?"

"No." Laura frowned, sat down on the other end of the bed as well. "She is not hostile."

"Oh, well…that's kind of cool." Cessily smiled slightly. "That must be great for you."

"I…" Laura looked down. "Yes."

Cessily gazed at her. "But also confusing, right?"

Laura nodded, hesitated. "I…killed her." She had never said this aloud.

"Oh." Cessily hesitated. "What, now, or…?"

"Before." Laura's eyebrows drew together. "Trigger scent." She looked down at her hands. "She tells me…I am more than what they made me…but…"

Cessily leaned over and gave her a long hug. They sat in silence for a while, until she drew back, her eyes filling with tears. "Why is life so hard, Laura?"

Laura hesitated. "I do not know."

"I—" Cessily paused, looked at the door, frowning. "Julian asked me to tell you that something's up with that team you're on."

Laura stiffened. "I do not sense him nearby."

"No, he brain-phoned me." Cessily paused. "What's up with you guys, anyway? I heard what he yelled at you the other night…and…uh…he might've told me some stuff but…you know Julian." She grinned slightly. "I only get his side of the story."

Laura frowned. "I…" she hesitated. _I do not want to talk about this_ was on her lips. But Sarah's warning was fresh in her mind. _Sometimes, logic leads you down a dark and lonely road._ Perhaps Cessily would be able to advise her. She cleared her throat. "We were...engaged in a…a personal relationship." She paused. "Briefly."

"That's what Julian said." Cessily frowned too. "What happened?"

"I terminated it." Laura hesitated. It was difficult to say the next part out loud, even to Cessily, but she had no choice. "I kill….I destroy. I am…a weapon. I am not…good for him."

"Oh…Laura, no." Cessily's eyebrows drew together too. "You can't think like that."

"It is the truth." Laura closed her eyes. "He has changed. Because of me."

"Yeah but…we all change." Cessily frowned. "That's part of life."

Laura shook her head, looked down again.

Cessily sighed. "Laura…yeah, he's different, but not all of it's bad. You know, he used to be a real jerk sometimes. Like, there's been days where even _I_ didn't talk to him, because I got sick of watching him say mean, thoughtless things." She paused. "I decided he was just too stupid to know better. But…he doesn't really do that anymore. I think that's because of you."

Laura shook her head again. "That is negligible."

"No, that's _huge._ " Cessily took Laura's hands. "You made him a better person."

"He kills now." Laura paused. "He did not before."

"I know." Cessily closed her eyes. "I…I was disgusted when I first found out…but you do it. And Sooraya does it. And Mr. Logan does it. And a bunch of others." Pause. "And Kevin did it. I heard that he tried to kill Josh." She lowered her gaze. "We're fighting a war. Just because I don't want to take part…doesn't mean it isn't happening. Or that it doesn't need to happen."

Laura hesitated for a long moment. There was one more thing, that thing that had been clear to her on the evening at the club, but less so in the period of time following. "I did not make him…happy." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Did he tell you that?" Cessily asked.

Pause. "No."

Cessily raised an eyebrow. "Did you _ask_ him?"

Laura paused again. "No."

"You guys seriously need to talk to each other." Cessily frowned. "Julian assumes things, too. Like, if jumping to conclusions was a sport, he'd win gold for sure."

Laura's forehead wrinkled. "'Win gold'?"

Cessily sighed. "It's just an expression. I mean…that's what he always does. He's really bad at seeing things from your point of view." She paused. "If you want it to work between you guys, you have to straight up tell him what you think, or he'll fill in the blanks."

"I…" Laura shook her head. "I am still a physical threat." Pause. "I have killed him three times now."

"What, really?" Cessily raised her eyebrows. "Like, kill, kill?"

"Yes."

"Well…" Cessily's nose wrinkled, and she shrugged. "I mean, you can't tell, right? He certainly doesn't seem afraid of you."

Laura considered this. "Perhaps."

Cessily's eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute. He's actually _died_ and come back…three times…and he still makes a big stink about how I'm going to kill him with a _hug_ someday?"

Laura raised her eyebrows, then looked at the door. She could sense Julian approaching now, probably to see what was taking her so long. "I need to go."

"Okay." Cessily smiled slightly. "We need to hang out more. I really missed you."

"Yes." Laura smiled back, slightly. Then she headed to the door and opened it.

Julian was in the process of reaching for the knob himself. "Did Cess—"

"Yeah she did." Cessily rolled her eyes. "But we were _talking_."

"This is really important." He folded his arms. "No time to talk. We have to go right now."

Laura stepped out.

Cessily rolled her eyes. "There's _always_ time to talk, Julian. You should really try it sometime. I bet you'd like it." She slammed the door in his face.

"…" Julian glanced at Laura. "What…why is she angry at _me?_ " He paused. "Did you say something to piss her off?" His tone was accusing.

Laura raised an eyebrow. "No."

"Right." He shrugged, then started down the hall.

After a moment, she followed, thinking about what Cessily had said.

* * *

"Cable sent us an S.O.S." Summers was holding what looked like a bunch of wrist watches. "From the future."

Julian scowled. He never wanted to see those things again. Yet here they were, and he already knew this was going to turn into some kind of twisted-up experience. As if he didn't have enough of those already.

"But we already took care of Bishop." Domino raised an eyebrow. "Didn't we?"

"Yeah, but what we didn't know is Bishop planned for this scenario." Summers looked down. "He's been causing damage all over the place…making a dead-end future. And he set a trap for Cable. A pretty big one."

"Son of a bitch." Logan kicked the ground.

Julian's eyebrows drew together. Yup. There it was. The twisted-up experience. "What…dead-end future? You mean, everything we've been doing is for _nothing?_ "

Summers frowned. "Well…Bishop thinks, or thought, that the whole future will change if he kills Hope. That's what Emma got out of him anyway." Pause. "To be honest, this is more shit than even I know how to mitigate. So, for now, we're just going to focus on keeping Hope alive."

"But, just to confirm, the future is completely fucked?" Julian persisted.

Beside him, Laura shifted, her eyebrows drawn together. Sooraya also looked disturbed.

Summers hesitated. "Maybe."

"How far in the future are we talking?" Domino.

"Pretty far." Summers paused. "About ten centuries."

"Cool." Josh grinned. "I can't say I'm too worried about that."

James shrugged.

"Me neither." Vanisher.

Julian's lip curled. "You're not even worried about _now,_ asshole _._ "

"Guys." Logan growled this. "What's the plan, Summers?"

Summers held up the watches. "Jump forward and stop Bishop from killing Hope. By any means necessary. Need I remind you…she dies, everything we've done has been for nothing, for absolute certain."

The group exchanged looks. Then Logan took a watch and began strapping it to his wrist.

The others followed suit.

Julian glanced at Laura, as she gazed at hers. He was still angry about the argument they'd had in the cafeteria, but it was unlike her to linger when there was a mission at hand. At first he told himself he didn't care, but he knew that was a lie. "Something wrong?"

She shook her head slightly and fastened the buckle.

"So, when we settin' these things to?"

"2973." Summers paused. "But you don't have to program them this time. Hank's got it all configured…just hit 'enter' twice."

Josh raised his hand. "Do we still die after thirty-two-and-a-half hours?"

Summers nodded. "But that's automatic now, too. No need to watch the clock. It'll pull you back."

"What?" Laura asked, alarmed. "My clones—"

"No, it's fine." Julian shook his head. "I'll explain later."

"Great." Logan looked around at the team, raised his finger to the button. "Guess I'll go first." And then, suddenly, he was gone.

Julian took a deep breath and pressed the green circular button twice.

* * *

Laura dropped low to the ground as everything warped around her, colors bleeding together, sounds merging, her skin exploding with perspiration. Then, suddenly, just as quickly as it had all begun, she was standing in the middle of a barren, dusty space. She could smell and taste ash, and the air was cold. It was dark. She felt disorientated. A wave of anxiety. Nausea. Everything had changed at once.

Julian appeared beside her. He took several steps, then fell to his knees and began to heave, apparently finding the experience as unpleasant as she did. After a moment, she stopped fighting the nausea and joined him.

"…" he closed his eyes and wiped his arm against his mouth. "Fuck time travel."

"Cyclops said we would die after thirty-two-and-a-half hours." Laura wiped her own mouth on her arm. "You said this was inaccurate."

"We die if we stay longer than that. Cellular breakdown." Julian got to his feet. "But we're fine if we just get out of here before that can happen. Which he said was automatic now, so no need to worry." He offered her his hand.

She hesitated, then accepted it and pulled herself up. "Okay."

Around them, the others were materializing. Vanisher immediately fell to his knees and began to vomit uncontrollably, so hard that Josh grabbed his shoulder. _Paft!_

"Holy crap." Josh paused. "You were dying of radiation poisoning. There's some crazy bad shit in the air here…probably should do this as quickly as we can."

Logan's forehead wrinkled and he looked at Julian. "Anything you can do, kid?"

"Uh…" Julian formed a bubble of energy around the group. "That help?"

"We'll know soon." Josh grinned. "Just watch for signs of Vanisher dying again."

"Fuck you." Vanisher glared at him. "Why is no one else getting sick, huh? What've you _done_ to me?"

"Nothing." Josh shrugged. "Some people have a strong constitution…others have a weaker one. You're just, like, made of paper." He paused. "Probably comes from walking around with undiagnosed syphilis for, like, half a decade."

"I think I'm gonna throw up." Domino held up her hands. "Just so you guys know, it has _nothing_ to do with the radiation stuff."

"Heh." James.

Vanisher glared at Josh. "Isn't there some kind of doctor-patient confidentiality thing?!"

Josh shrugged again. "Probably. But I'm not a doctor."

The corners of Laura's lips turned upward.

"…" Logan gave them a flat look. "Keep it together, people. We don't have time for this shit. Hellion? Can you locate Hope?"

"I have to drop the shield if I'm going to search."

"Do it."

Julian closed his eyes.

Vanisher started to throw up again.

Josh grinned and rubbed his back. "There, there."

"Got her." Julian raised the shield again. "She's…that way." He pointed. "And we have a bunch of potential unfriendlies along the way. Including two people that blocked me out somehow, and one mind that was so screwed up that I was afraid to even _look_ at it."

"Hmm." Logan looked at Vanisher. "Take us in."

 _Paft!_ As Josh healed him again.

"Can't." Vanisher shook his head "All this…radiation…must be messing me up. Like being in a blizzard. Don't think I could port five feet in this."

"God damn it." Logan closed his eyes. "Fine. Hellion, fly us to the girl. And be snappy."

Julian lifted them into the air, and they began to move in the direction he had pointed.

Laura looked at the ground below, her eyebrows drawing together. From the air, she could make out that the dusty patch was roughly in the shape of the school. The rest of the ground was dirt, but of a different shade. The school had long since fallen, turned to rubble, and then been pulverized entirely. What had happened to everyone? They must be long dead, killed, or from natural causes. Perhaps even herself. Julian, definitely.

She looked at him, her forehead wrinkling.

"Faster!" Logan snarled.

"I'm hauling about two thousand pounds of people with my mind, thanks to you and Laura, _and_ I'm shielding us from radiation." Julian glared at him. "One more complaint and I swear I will drop you."

"Do you think this is a fucking _game?!_ " Logan demanded.

Julian dropped him. But also the rest of them, because they had been hit by some sort of missile which managed to overwhelm his shield and send them flying toward the ground. He landed in a large pile of oozing, ancient-looking garbage.

Laura landed on top of him, the three hundred pounds of adamantium bonded to her skeleton making her impact much harder than it would have been otherwise.

" _Ooof!_ " He sunk about a foot into the heap.

She scrambled upward so she was sitting on his stomach and pushed up her mask, looking down at him in alarm. "Did I—"

Julian shook his head. "I'm...I'm fine." He paused, patted the garbage beside him. "I think whatever the hell this is took the brunt of it."

"Good." She returned his gaze for a moment. It had been a while since she had sat on top of him like this. If she leaned backward, she would encounter—

"HYYYUUURRRRKKK!" Vanisher began to vomit again. "Oh my fucking god! HYYYRRRKKK! There's _blood!_ I THINK I PUKED OUT AN ORGAN!GOLD KID!SOMEONE _! HELP M—_ HYYYUUUURRRRK!"

Julian closed his eyes. "I should just let him die."

"He is occasionally useful." Laura climbed off of him. "Without him, we may not have defeated Kimura."

"I'll keep telling myself that." He sat up carefully, then took them down to the ground and raised his shield over Vanisher. "You see where the others went?"

Vanisher shook his head, groaning between gagging noises. He was on all fours, his limbs shaking as he struggled to support himself.

Laura sniffed the air. It was filled with putrefaction, but to a much lesser degree than if the garbage were fresh, so she could just detect some of their companion's scents. "Josh and James are this way." She headed in that direction.

"You good to walk, or do I have to drag you around like the actual sack of shit you are?" Julian asked Vanisher.

Vanisher glared at him, then got shakily to his feet.

They walked toward another pile of garbage. Josh peered down at them from the top. "I don't think this is what Logan meant by _faster._ "

"Yeah, me neither." Julian summoned him down. "To be fair, I'm not the best multitasker. I can only do two things at once…three is just pushing it."

"Three?" James was getting up from what looked like an old bathtub. It had cracked around him, from his impact.

"Hauling your asses and blocking radiation count as two." Julian shrugged. "The big blast that came out of nowhere would be the third thing."

 _Paft!_ as Josh healed Vanisher and himself. "Damn, your esophagus was like swiss cheese this time."

"DON'T!" Vanisher covered his ears.

"Still got to find Logan, Domino…and Sooraya." Julian glanced at Laura. "I don't want to drop the shield again."

 _Snff._ "This way."

They followed Laura around the garbage pile, to yet another stack. This one seemed to be…neater. The refuse was arranged in a geometrically pleasing fashion. And the colors…Laura tilted her head. The piles had been sorted by color.

"Is it just me, or did someone try to make the garbage here look pretty?" Josh asked, his forehead wrinkled.

"Yep." James frowned. "Look." He pointed up at a discarded blue bicycle, which had been twisted to look like it was melting off the edge of an abandoned blue table. "Think that's a Dali ripoff."

Julian gazed at it, then shuddered. "Fuck, the future is _weird._ I want to leave."

"Finally…something we agree on." Vanisher mumbled under his breath.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?!" Logan's enraged roar, from…beneath their feet? Laura's eyebrows drew together, and she glanced at Julian.

"I heard it too." He looked around. "Where's the entrance though? Can you smell it out?"

 _Snff._ Laura turned her head, detecting Logan's scent trail heading behind them and around the strange trash pile. Along with Domino. And Sooraya. And…another, unfamiliar scent. A very strong scent, someone who had not bathed in a very long time. Perhaps ever. She wrinkled her nose, but headed towards its source, the rest of the team following. A moment later, they came across an area where the ground layer of garbage had been dug away—all six feet of it—to reveal a tiny patch of cracked cement, in the center of which was an open manhole. The cover was nowhere to be seen.

Julian glanced at Laura hesitantly. "You sure about this?"

Laura paused. She knew he was thinking of another time they had descended below the streets, when trying to recover Cessily. "Yes. Logan requires assistance."

"Maybe Logan can take care of himself." Josh suggested, sounding hopeful.

 _BUDABUDABUDABUDABUDA—_

"RRRAAAAWWWRRRGGGHHH!"

They traded glances, then Julian stepped forward.

"I'm not going in there!" Vanisher snapped.

"Have fun with the radiation poisoning." Julian stuck his legs into the entrance and disappeared from sight.

Laura followed, and then James.

"You can stay out here and heal me." Vanisher said to Josh, but the latter shoved him away and slipped down the ladder after them.

Vanisher made a frustrated noise, then—after a _"HYURRRKKK!"—_ he slid down the ladder as well.

Julian held up his hand, running energy through it to act as a torch. He looked at the surrounding sewer, then frowned. "There's drawings on the walls…stick figures."

"Like cavemen paintings." James frowned. "Only with less animals and more…guns?"

"Whoever did this had a _lot_ of time. There's, like, thousands of little guys here." Josh touched the art, then rubbed his fingers together. "It's chalk."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "I hear them up ahead. Two corridors away."

Julian nodded to her. "I'm right behind you."

They followed her down the corridor, creeping along the dusty concrete walkway. The water had long since dried up, leaving a long empty trough beside them. As they drew closer, Laura could hear that Logan was talking to the other person, a man, in a low, frustrated voice. By their vital signs, she could tell that Domino and Sooraya were still unconscious, probably suffering from radiation poisoning. And that the person had weapons pointed at both of them. The source of the gunfire they had heard earlier. She knew it was both, because the man kept adjusting his grip, constantly ready to fire. She could not yet hear what Logan was saying. The sound was muffled. She stopped, holding up her hand. "He has advanced weaponry. And Logan is speaking, but I cannot decipher it." She looked at Julian. "I suspect it is a hostage situation."

"Great." Julian paused. "Hang on. I'll just take him out from here." The shield faded, and he closed his eyes for a moment, then wrinkled his nose. "Ugh. It's…that…the crazy…can't…" he opened his eyes again and restored their shield. "I can't do anything. Didn't even make him miss a beat _._ He has a healing factor."

"Explains why Logan hasn't put him down yet." James.

Laura nodded slowly.

"Urgh…" Vanisher wiped his arm across his forehead. "Can we just grab them and get out of here already?"

Julian glanced at him, raising his eyebrows. "Go ahead."

Laura began to move forward again, her claws sliding out slowly so as not to make too much noise. _Snkkt…_ she turned down the last corridor. There was a doorway ahead, out of which light was spilling.

She could hear them now.

"I SAID!" The stranger shouted, his voice echoing around the tunnels. "I stay in the corner but travel around the world. WHAT AM I?!"

"I don't fuckin' know! I'm not here to play games!" Logan sounded very frustrated. "I gotta go stop a little _girl_ from gettin' murdered, and you sure as hell ain't helpin' matters!" Logan made a movement.

"NAH-UH-UH!" The other man made something creak. "Stop it stabby! Lucille hates cheaters! Mmmm, Cheetos… WHAT AM I? Duh, stamp. _BOB!_ You did it again! GOD DAMMIT!" More creaking. "This is why no one likes playing with you! Okay, Larry, your turn. Okay here we go. Many have hear me, but no one has seen me, and I will not speak back until spoken to because I'm an echo. SHIT!"

"Is…" Julian's eyebrows drew together. "Is he asking him _riddles?_ "

Laura nodded at him.

He closed his eyes, then stepped around her and entered the room, raising his hand.

 _BUDABUDABUDABUDA!_ She jumped into action, following him into the room.

"AAHHHHHGGGHH!" The man was grabbing at himself, blood spurting against the walls of the bubble that Julian had trapped him in. "YOU SHOT ME! WAIT, I SHOT ME! WHY DID I SHOOT ME?!" He was dressed in mismatched clothes, a dark mask covering his face. "I thought we were all _friends_ in here! _"_

"KID—" Logan, glaring at Julian. "You couldn'ta just jammed his gun or something?"

"Probably." Julian paused. "This worked too."

Laura knelt beside Sooraya, who looked groggy. Her eyes were half lidded. The man must have caught her by surprise. She looked over at Josh. "Please heal her."

Josh nodded and scrambled over, then grabbed Sooraya's hands. _Paft!_

"Thank you." Sooraya shook her head slightly, as if to clear it.

"…me next…" Domino groaned, reaching for Josh's hand. _Paft!_  
"So, who's your friend here?" Julian was gesturing to the man, who was currently making gestures that resembled those of a mime.

"Unless my nose is lyin'…that's Deadpool."

" _That's_ Deadpool?" Josh blurted. " _That?_ "

"We don't have time for this. He might be helpful if we can get him workin' for us." Logan glanced at Julian. "Fix him."

Julian shook his head. "There's no _fixing_ that level of crazy."

"…" Domino pushed herself upright, her eyebrows drawing together. "Wade? Is that you?"

"Wade's business hours are between 12 and 2." Deadpool paused. "He accepts cash, check, and credit. But not Discover. No one likes _that._ "

"He's always been crazy…but this is a little extreme even for him." Domino frowned. "Wonder what the hell happened."

"Maybe it's a side effect of the radiation." Josh got to his feet. "I could, uh, try healing him?"

"Worth a shot." Logan paused. "But we gotta get outta here, and back on task. Anythin' happens to Hope…"

"Pop goes the weasel!" Deadpool said enthusiastically. "Mmm, _weasel._ "

Julian let the bubble dissolve, but the rifle flew to his hands. "I'll just hold onto this for you for a bit."

Deadpool began to reach after it, but Josh grabbed his wrist. The golden glow began but did not fade immediately as it usually did. "Holy _shit!_ " the latter mumbled. "There's…there's like…so much radiation damage…how the hell is he…" the glow brightened, then finally faded, and Josh collapsed, unconscious.

"God damnit!" Logan stepped over and began shaking his shoulder. "Hey. Kid. Wake up."

"What?! X-men?!" Deadpool was looking all around him. Then he clasped his hands together. "I haven't had guests in _ages._ Okay, uh, guests, guests like when you give them things. How do you like your sewage? Sugar? Cream? Or…I know I have some carboard lying around here!"

"…" Julian glanced at Josh, who had just opened his eyes again. "You sure it was just radiation damage?"

"Wade." Logan pushed up his mask and put his hand on his shoulder. "We got a mission—"

"Wolverine!" Deadpool clapped his hands on Logan's shoulders. "It's been forever! You look like you got freeze dried. Where you been hiding out? Does it have cable?"

"…" Logan paused. "I'm from the past, asshole."

" _OH._ " Deadpool paused. "So you just look like that normally?"

"Heh." James.

Logan glared at him. "All of you, shut up. This ain't time for fun and games. Wade, we need your help makin' sure a little girl doesn't get murdered. A girl who is gonna stop this shitty future from happening."

"Cool!" Deadpool paused, in the middle of flashing him a double thumbs-up. "Wait. If you stop this, then I don't get to be the Sewer Lord. It was awesome until my rat minions died."

"Ugh." Vanisher mumbled. "This guy is _gross._ "

Domino raised an eyebrow at him. "Pot, meet kettle."

"Wade, this girl is everything." Logan gave him a serious look. "We lose her, and the world ends for us."

"Okay, okay." Deadpool paused. "Hang on, just lemme change." Before Logan could protest, he skipped out of the room and disappeared down the tunnel, humming under his breath.

"He comin' back?" Logan asked Julian.

The latter sighed but closed his eyes, focusing for a moment. "Yeah. I think so."

" _HYYURRRKKK—"_ Vanisher doubled over behind them.

"Oh my god." Julian mumbled, raising the shield again. "Can we just send him back or something? He's really not helping us."

"Please." Vanisher mumbled. "Heal me up and send me back. You got the Deadpool guy now. For the love of god let me sit this one out."

Logan thought for a moment. "Fine. Get outta here, Porter. But don't think you're off the hook. We still need you."

"Yeah, yeah."

Logan glared at him, then nodded to Josh.

 _Paft!_

Vanisher began to struggle with his timepiece but couldn't unfasten it. He looked at Laura. "Creepy Girl! Little help here?"

Laura arched her eyebrows. _Snkkt!_ She slid the tip through the strap, and the timepiece fell to the ground.

"What…" Vanisher stared at the group. "Why aren't I disappearing? That's how it's _supposed_ to work, right?"

Julian's forehead wrinkled. "Yeah. There's…something's up for sure."

"Well, we'll figure it out at some point." Logan folded his arms. "Looks like we're stuck with you for now, Porter."

Vanisher closed his eyes. "This is a goddamn nightmare."

"You're telling me." Josh's nose wrinkled. " _I'm_ the one that gets to keep healing you every minute when you start barfing to death."

Laura leaned back against the doorway to the room, her eyes on Julian, thinking of how alarmed she had felt when they landed on the trash pile, and she had thought for a moment that she had harmed him. And the moment after, when she realized that he was okay. Even when they were not in a relationship, she had almost killed him, by accident. Yet, somehow, she found herself wondering: what if she was wrong?

Cessily had seemed to think so. _Oh…Laura, no. You can't think like that._ Her eyebrows drew together. She had said that she made him a better person. Was this true? Laura doubted it. His changes had not been improvements. She had destroyed his innocence. She had made him like herself. She was certain of this.

But there was a thought she could not doubt, could not shake. Regarding whether she made him happy. _Did you ask him?_ Logic told her it did not matter. That she was a weapon, a thing made to destroy. An inhuman thing. Yet Sarah had warned her that she had a choice to make, and that logic was not always the best choice.

And somewhere in all this, her own words to Frost, on the night of the attack. _Do not let us die now._ The idea that the past might not be repeated. That perhaps things could be different.

Her eyebrows drew together, and she bit her lip

"Hear something?" Julian was speaking to her. The others were still conversing in the background, trying to puzzle out why Vanisher had not disappeared.

Laura shook her head.

He looked away again.

She pushed up her mask and hesitated, her eyes flickering over his profile, allowing herself to actually study him. Like she used to. She felt her face beginning to warm. She swallowed, then opened her mouth to speak. She was not certain what she planned to say. Yet.

"You guys'll never believe what I found!" Deadpool's voice came bouncing down the tunnel, as he approached.

Laura closed her eyes in annoyance but pulled down her mask again. The moment had passed. She would need to wait until later.

"Finally." Logan stepped out of the room, followed by the others. "What took you so long?"

Deadpool was now dressed head to toe in a dusty red and black outfit. He reached behind himself and withdrew two katanas from their holsters. "Had to remember where I stashed my gear, make sure the blades were still pointy, make sure _I_ know which is the pointy end, and et cetera! It's been, like, a while. Jeez, give a girl some time to gussy up for the ball, will ya?" He paused, looked around him, then down at his own uniform, then at them again. "Wait a minute. Am I seeing in monochrome again, or are future X-men just bleak like everything else? You guys used to be so colorful."

"We're not X-men." Josh shrugged. "We're, like, black ops. I don't think we even have a name."

Deadpool clapped his hands together. "Can I name you?! I'm good at naming things. I'm really original. How about…X-force?" He paused. "My other idea is Xerox."

Domino rolled her eyes. "Wade, you were _on_ that team with me. And the other thing is a brand of copiers."

"Oh, right." He shrugged. "Psssht. You can't expect me to remember everything."

"I get the feeling that's going to be a regular excuse." Josh murmured.

" _Again…_ shut up, all of you." Logan pulled down his mask. "Wasted enough time. Let's get the hell outta here."

* * *

"They should be somewhere down here." Julian pointed down at the scorched looking ground below them, riddled with collapsed buildings. "Cable's hiding with Hope. They're being pursued by armed guys, working for some asshole that calls himself Stryfe."

"Fuckin' hell." Logan closed his eyes. "Take us down, kid…and be ready to fight." He popped his claws with a _Snikt!_ "Split up when we land. Your mission is to find Hope."

Julian began to lower them toward the ground.

"Don't worry." Josh grinned, patting Vanisher on the shoulder. "I'll hold your hand, buddy."

"Fuck you." Vanisher mumbled this under his breath.

With a gentle _wumpf_ they hit the ground, and then began running in opposite directions. Without thinking, Laura followed Julian, her claws popping in preparation with a _Snkkt!_

"There is a group of soldiers behind the building ahead." She paused. "They have advanced weaponry. Electrical."

"Yeah, I have them." Julian paused. "Not psi-proofed though."

Laura listened as their heartbeats stopped, and then to the sounds of their bodies hitting the ground. She raised an eyebrow.

"Hope's north." Julian nodded in that direction. "They've been chasing her and Cable into a trap. Logan and Deadpool are closest, but they're going to need backup." He offered her his hand.

"Yes." Laura paused. "But we should take out the peripheral soldiers first."

Julian considered this. "Let's walk, then."

They settled into a rhythm, heading along the row of buildings, pausing every so often so that he could disable the men hiding behind them. Laura found herself thinking that she should have gone with one of the others. He did not need her to be effective.

"Up ahead." Julian paused. "Thirty men. They have Cable cornered. We're going to flank them. Logan's ready. Are you?"

"Yes."

They crept closer to the courtyard in which the men were dispersed, their weapons trained at the doorway of a half-demolished, roofless building. Cable and Hope were probably inside.

Julian closed his eyes.

Laura watched as several of the men dropped to their knees, their weapons clattering to the cracked pavement. The rest began to look around.

"THERE!" one yelled, pointing toward them.

Laura ran to meet the first wave of gunfire, her teeth gritted and her claws at her sides. She dodged a wave of electricity, then ploughed her fists into the shooter's midriff, already selecting her next target from the oncoming wave. She could see flashes ahead. Deadpool's katanas. He seemed quite proficient.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Julian disappearing into the fray. He grabbed someone's gun with his hand and bent the tip upward, before she lost sight of him. She dove into the tangle of combatants ahead, popping her foot claws with another _Snkkt!_ For a few moments, she was lost in the fight.

Then just as suddenly as it had begun, it was over. She looked around frantically, then heard Julian at the doorway of the building, apparently unharmed.

"Cable!" He was shouting. "You _know_ us! Logan's just trying to help. Let him go."

Laura ran toward them, her eyebrows drawing together.

"Then why are you with _her?!"_ Cable pointed at Laura just as she reached the doorway. He was holding Logan in a chokehold in the corner, a gun pointed at his eye.

Logan was not fighting back, probably concerned about hurting the girl in the process.

Laura glanced at her. Hope. She had grown since she had last seen her. When she was pursuing her through the snow, claws still dripping with Cable's blood. The night she had killed Julian the first time. Her eyebrows drew together.

Hope's nose wrinkled. She raised a gun at Laura.

"Relax. She's on our side." Julian paused, closed his eyes. "See?"

Cable loosened his hold on Logan, who slipped away. "I see her trying _anything—_ "

"I will not." Laura withdrew her claws with a _Snakt_ as she entered the destroyed foyer. "I am here to assist."

Logan glared at Cable. "You won't believe me, but you believe the _kid?_ Really, Nathan?"

"Can't be too careful these days. He showed me some memories." Cable paused. "We don't have time to chat. Got to get ourselves outta here. Apocalypse has us trapped…and we need to disable whatever he's doing."

"Uh, actually…" Deadpool, who was now standing in the doorway, raised a finger. "Stryfe's the HMF out here. We all work for him."

"HMF?" Logan asked.

"Head mother fucker." Deadpool paused. "Thought I'd save time with acronyms but I forgot I was talking to grandpa here."

Logan closed his eyes.

"What?" Cable glanced at him. "Stryfe's the boss? That doesn't make sense. I know those were his guys out here just now, but—"

"Wait a minute." Julian paused. " _We?"_

"I swear, I was going to tell you all when it seemed like a good time." Deadpool paused. "Stryfe's been my brain buddy for a good bit now. After the nukes fell and I had to go underground…kept me from being too much of a hermit, which kinda became a concern for me when my rat minions died."

"God dammit." Cable looked down.

Julian folded his arms. "Why's everyone so upset about this Stryfe guy?"

"Stryfe is Cable's clone. All sorts of psi-powers." Logan paused. "Doesn't have the T.O. virus holdin' him back, so he's a hell of a powerhouse. And he's got it in for Cable here."

"Oh." Julian shrugged. "Well, I'm here too."

"Don't fool yourself, kid." Cable shook his head. "Stryfe will make putty out of you."

"We'll find out soon!" Deadpool shrugged. "He just left his big creepy castle, to come and kill you all. BRB while I get some popcorn." He slipped out of the foyer. "That means be right back, FYI." He called this over his shoulder.

"Our only way outta here is breakin' whatever doohickey Stryfe has blockin' us from time jumps." Logan looked at Laura. "You take Hope. Find Josh and stick with him, so he can heal her if need be." He looked at Julian next. "You stay here with me an' Cable. See if you can trick him into thinking Hope's here. And get everyone else searchin' for that doohickey."

Julian nodded. "Josh is going to wait on the west side for you, Laura."

"Logan—I gotta ask, even after what the kid showed me…are you _sure_ you trust her?" Cable eyed Laura. "Last time I saw your clone, she was chasing after Hope after stabbing the hell out of me."

"Yeah." Logan frowned. "I'm sure. She'll die for the mission."

Julian stiffened, looked at Laura, his forehead wrinkled.

She moved over to Hope. "We should go."

Hope glared up at her. "You hurt Nathan! I don't want to go _anywhere_ with you."

Laura pressed her lips into a line. Experience with her clones had taught her that it would be quicker if she gained the girl's compliance. She knelt down and raised her mask. "I did not want to. I was not free then…but I am now. I want to help you."

Hope hesitated, looked over at Cable.

He nodded slightly. "Go with her."

"Okay." Hope sighed, then reached up for Laura's hand. "Let's go."

They headed for the doorway. Laura glanced back at Julian, her eyebrows drawn together. She was concerned that he would be harmed. That he, too, would die for the mission. Then he was out of her line of sight, and she pulled her mask back down, walking toward the west as quickly as the girl was able.


	32. Chapter 32 - Death

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the reviews! In answer to a few comments- yes, Necrosha was an arc in the comics, as is this current arc (it was called "Messiah War"). I have not read the comic with Deadpool and Honey Badger/Gabby, but have heard a lot of good things about it, we'll see :) I do like the idea of Deadpool babysitting. Hmm. Anyways, hope y'all continue to enjoy, I'm really excited to be at this point. There may or may not be some things coming up that I am really looking forward to publishing :D

* * *

CHAPTER 32

 _Death_

* * *

Julian watched Laura leave, his forehead wrinkled.

 _She'll die for the mission,_ Logan had said.

And it _was_ a fact. He knew, as soon as he heard the older man say this, that it was true. But it was the way he had said it, so matter-of-factly. As if he'd forgotten who Laura was, what she was. Like her life meant nothing in relation to what they were doing.

As angry and frustrated as he was at her, this disturbed him.

"Kid." Logan, calling him back to the present.

Julian shook his head. "Yeah. I'm ready."

Deadpool walked back into the foyer, his mask pushed up slightly as he munched from the striped bag of popcorn he was holding.

Logan glanced at him, raised an eyebrow. "The hell you get that from?"

The other man shrugged. "Dunno. Whenever I want popcorn, a cart always shows up somewhere nearby."

"Don't think too hard about it." Cable looked up at the sky. "Stryfe's on his way. I can feel it." He glanced at Julian. "We'll go out in the courtyard. You hide here, and just try to trick him about Hope for as long as you can."

Julian nodded, and watched as the three exited the foyer. Finally, he sat down on the edge of a dilapidated stair and closed his eyes, reaching out around him with his mind. He could sense Cable and Logan in the courtyard, and Deadpool, who was almost as crazy and headache inducing as before. Beyond all that was Hope, running with Laura across a street. He had to make himself move on. No Stryfe yet. He must still be out of range. Julian opened his eyes—and flinched in surprise. A man was towering over him, wearing a chrome-colored suit of armor, a dark red cape billowing around his shoulders.

"Pathetic." Stryfe reached out. "I knew you'd be here almost before _you_ did."

Julian's shield slipped over his skin, moments before the wave of energy hit him. He gritted his teeth, dizzy, then crashed to his knees on the ancient foyer floor, shaking. _No! Up, up._ He tried to resist, to put more energy into his shield, but Stryfe was laughing. His shield had disappeared, and things were getting dark. Fast. He finally gave up and laid still.

"Come back when you're grown up." Stryfe blasted down the wall separating them from the courtyard, and floated in.

Julian drifted in and out of consciousness. He was aware that he hadn't even slowed Stryfe down. _Not even a speedbump._ He heard crashed outside. Loud yelling. Logan roaring. Cable shouting. Stryfe laughing. The volume of which was fading.

"STOP HIM!" Cable. "HOPE—"

Julian realized that Stryfe was going after Hope now. And Laura. He felt a deep sinking as he realized he had let her down. His eyebrows drew together.

 _I can help you…_

He pushed himself up and looked around. The foyer was empty. The voice must be telepathic.

 _Come to me…_

 _Who are you and what do you want?_ Julian demanded, suspicious. He'd heard the Phoenix stories often enough to know that disembodied voices could be a really bad thing for a telepath to hear.

 _We both want the same thing._ Pause. _Come to me. In the mountains._

Julian hesitated. Then he thought of Hope and Laura, running across the street, Stryfe en route. Maybe there already. He didn't even want to look. He was already in the air. _Show me how to get there._

* * *

Laura curled into a ball on the cracked pavement, around the large gash in her abdomen, from her own claws. It was healing. Slowly. The wound was deep. If she continued moving, her intestines would become displaced, and the damage would only worsen to the point that she would be useless. She only needed a moment.

"Kill him!" Logan shouted desperately.

James was engaging with Stryfe now, shouting something that she could not decipher. It was garbled. Judging by his vital signs, he was in severe pain. And not even close to breaking through Stryfe's shields.

"Look at you!" Stryfe was shouting. "You're like mice trying to defeat the cat!" There was a loud explosive noise. Laura was swept back too. She raised her head, to see that he had Cable kneeling before him. "That was pathetic. Nathan, you're ruining this. All these years I've waited to _kill_ you…and you just crumple at my feet." Pause. "Blow your brains out."

Cable's hand was moving to his holster.

"NYYEAAHH!" Logan was charging at him. _SHLUNK!_ as he sunk his claws into his side.

Laura scrambled to her knees. _Snkkt!_

"Please." Stryfe smiled at him, then reached out and dragged Josh toward himself, Hope in tow. "Heal me, boy."

Josh grabbed his hand, his eyebrows drawing together. _Paft!_ There was a soft golden glow as he healed Stryfe.

"ELIXIR!" Logan roared.

"Enough out of _you._ " Stryfe waved his hand at Logan, who turned his claws up to his face, and then shoved them through his eyes with a _shlunk!_ He stumbled backward, disabled.

"Hmm." Stryfe threw a bubble around Hope, dragged her toward him. "What have we here?"

"No!" Cable scrambled toward him, but Stryfe raised a hand and slammed him back against the concrete.

"Yeah. Don't think so." He raised Hope into the air. "So who are you, little one? One of their students on a field trip?"

Hope gazed at him, most likely too frightened to speak.

Laura pressed her arm against the almost-sealed wound, got to her feet. Spots swam in front of her eyes. Stryfe had somehow slowed her healing factor. She felt like she had a carbonadium bullet in her, somewhere, but she knew that she did not. "Let her…go…"

"You're a bad example of a clone." Stryfe paused. "The kind that's _weaker_ than the original. Who is already lying on the road, injuring his own brain. Why would you even bother getting in my way?"

Laura swallowed. She felt ill. "I will die for her."

"Then die." Stryfe held out his hand in her direction again.

Laura saw bright blue, followed by dark.

* * *

Julian landed at the mouth of the cave, feeling major reservations. He peered into the darkness, searching for something. Someone. He felt an odd sense of familiarity, of déjà vu, even though he had never been here before.

 _Yes. Come closer._

Julian hesitated. "Not till you explain who you are, and why you're talking to _me._ "

Pause.

"You are one of…Death's creations." A deep voice said this. "I can sense him in you."

"…" Julian's lip curled. "Right."

"Come closer."

A few moments passed, then he entered the cave, running energy up through his hand. The light spread, illuminating the space. And the enormous… _thing…_ sitting, slumping on what looked like a throne. There were metal tubes twisted all over. He recognized the thing. Pale, bluish skin, the weird armor grafted into its body, the strange lips that extended from ear to ear. He'd seen it in the danger room before, on a profile, back when he was leading a squad. Frost had told him he was so powerful they hadn't even attempted to build the simulation yet. This was Apocalypse, the mutant whose name had been floating around this entire mission.

"Aw, fuck." Julian paused. "No. I'm just…I have enough problems, okay? I'm going to back out of the cave and we'll pretend we didn't see each other."

The figure was silent for a moment. Then it chuckled, a deep, rocking sound. "You are just a child."

Julian gazed at him. He'd normally protest, but his head was still aching from having Stryfe run through it like a hot knife through butter. And he was going to have to go back and do it all over again in a short while, see if he could buy the others a moment to escape. If they weren't dead already. He really didn't need another ass kicking on top of all that. "Yeah."

Apocalypse tapped his enormous fingers on the armrest of his throne, then moved slightly. "Odd. You have been…defeated by another…of my creations…yet you will not give up."

Julian raised his eyebrows. "You made Stryfe?"

The other mutant did not answer, gazing at him.

"…" Julian's forehead wrinkled. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Apocalypse leaned forward slightly. "Death has touched you. You…may know him…as Archangel."

"Oh." Julian paused. "Well, yeah. He…I think he helped me out, once." He flexed his metal fingers. "He gave me these. Somehow."

"The techno organic virus." Apocalypse leaned back again. "My design. The celestial variant. You have been…augmented. Your genes…rewritten…to unleash your full potential. You are…ready to become…my horseman of Death."

"…" Julian took a step backward. "No thanks." His nose wrinkled. "I'd much rather get my ass kicked again than become whatever you made Angel into. I didn't need to be a telepath back then to know he was absolutely batshit insane."

"You misunderstand, child." Apocalypse paused. "It was not an offer. I am dying. Stryfe woke me before my slumber finished…and dealt my death blow." As he spoke, he gestured at his torso. Julian realized it was dark and shiny, slick with what must be his blood. "I was…commenting…on what might have been."

"Gotcha." Julian eyed him mistrustfully.

Apocalypse closed his eyes, leaned his large face slowly in his hand. "Run away, child. Leave me in peace…to my demise."

Julian was silent for a few moments. He looked at his hands, then at the other mutant, his forehead wrinkling. He hesitated. "Uh. I have an idea."

Apocalypse looked at him through his fingers.

Julian hesitated again. "I, um, might be able to…heal you." He paused. "I'm telekinetic."

The figure chuckled again. "And you think I am not."

"Don't laugh." Julian's eyes narrowed. "I can control molecules. I've healed myself a few times now. It could work."

Pause. "And your price for this, child?"

"Well…" Julian hesitated. "It's not necessarily a _price._ You said Stryfe did this to you, right?"

Apocalypse nodded. "I made him…to be my new vessel."

"Well, I'll heal you…and help you find him."

* * *

Laura slowly came to. She was being nudged. At first, she thought it was her clones, and she rolled over, smiling slightly. The smile faded when she saw it was a woman with an extremely pale face and a dark circle over one eye. Domino.

"Wake up, X." Domino's tone was serious, for once. "We gotta find that doohickey, right the hell now. Redouble our efforts. Otherwise…we're all dead, for sure."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "We are all dead if we do not save Hope."

"Yeah, I dunno what we're gonna do about that." Domino frowned, looked at something beyond Laura. "Fearless leader's down for the count though."

Laura raised her head, and saw that Logan was face down on the pavement, his fists still pressed against his face. She pushed herself up, crawled over to him, and rolled him onto his back, then began to press along his forearms, searching for the muscle that could force his claws to retract. A moment later… _Snakt!_

Logan twitched, but remained unconscious. Probably for the best, judging by the amount of blood he had lost, and the brain damage that his healing factor was slowly repairing. He had been affected by Stryfe's power negation as well.

"Least he's not dead." Domino offered Laura a hand up.

She took it, almost knocking her over.

"Damn. You weigh a hell of a lot for a girl." Domino arched her eyebrow. "Three? Three fifty?"

"Over four hundred pounds. My skeleton is infused with adamantium." Laura looked across the pavement, saw Josh, and beyond him, Vanisher, who was covered in blisters, and surrounded by vomit. "He will die without healing."

"Would that really be a bad thing?" But Domino moved over to Josh and began to shake his shoulder. "Hey. Heal boy. Wake up. Your biggest fan needs you."

Josh opened his eyes slowly, then sat up. "Where—what happened?!"

"I am not certain, but you must heal Vanisher." Laura frowned. "Then Logan…and myself. Stryfe harmed us."

"On it." Josh touched Vanisher's hand. _Paft!_ "Where are the others?"

"No idea." Domino helped him up. "I was with Dust when Deadpool came running up and told us we were missing all the action. I thought she was following, but I guess not. No idea about the other kids, or Cable."

"Great." Josh laid his hands on Logan's forehead. "Trying not to look…I don't want to remember what he looks like without eyes." _Paft!_

 _Pop!_ as Logan's eyeballs reformed. He sat up immediately, looking around him. "The hell—"

"Stryfe has Hope." Laura paused. "And Cable. Several others are missing."

"God damn it." Logan closed his eyes. "We're fuckin' up big time here."

"To be fair…Stryfe is one hell of an opponent." Domino paused. "I don't think we can fight him. We should just get the hell out of Dodge while the getting's good."

Logan shook his head. "We can't leave her here. There's no future without her…an' she's just a kid. We can't _leave_ her with that monster."

Laura gazed at him, her eyebrows arched. He had let her remain with Kimura for over two years. Or had he not considered Kimura to be a monster? Or, she realized, perhaps he had not considered her to be a "kid."

"Well, you're welcome to keep fighting that hopeless fight and getting your ass kicked, but it's pointless if you can't get her out of here anyway." Domino gave him a stubborn look. "I'm focusing on the time shit…and I need a bunch of people with me."

Logan sighed. "Yeah. Fine. X, Dust, go with her. Elixir…Vanisher by default…you're with me." He paused. "And Deadpool, whenever he shows up again."

"Fuck this." Vanisher mumbled under his breath. "Fuck all of this. You guys better find that mother fucking time-block thing soon—"

"Yeah, we _get_ it's important." Domino rolled her eyes. "Could we maybe do a trade with Stryfe? One of his guys for Vanisher?"

Logan gave her a tired smirk. "I'll float it by him."

Laura looked at Domino. "I am ready."

"No time like the present." Domino shrugged, glanced at Logan again. "Good luck with the crazy Cable clone."

* * *

Laura and Sooraya followed Domino toward the large structure on the hill, her forehead wrinkling. "This is Stryfe's fortress."

"Guess so." Domino was reloading her guns one by one, her expression fixed. "My bet's that he's keeping the device here. Never met a bad guy who didn't keep his assets close."

Sooraya nodded slightly. "Do you know what it may look like?"

"Nope." The other woman shrugged. "Hoping my luck's going to help us out, though. Usually it kicks in when I'm in trouble." She paused, showed them her watch. The dial read _00:17:05._ "If this hits zero, and we're still stuck here…I bet it won't be pretty."

Sooraya closed her eyes. "No."

Laura hesitated. "Can…can either of you reach Julian? I cannot talk to him. My skull is lined with vibranium."

"I'll try, but it depends on him actually searching for us, since I'm not telepathic in any way." Domino shrugged. "Haven't heard from him for a while, now." Pause. "I'm sure he's fine, kid. Probably just busy."

Sooraya placed her hand on Laura's shoulder. "I am trying as well."

Laura closed her eyes. What if she could not find him before their time ran out, and he remained here? Died here? Or perhaps he was already dead. Her knuckles itched at this thought. Would his body stay in the future?

"Cocky bastard." Domino was saying.

Laura focused on her companion again.

"Don't see any of his goons, do you?" Domino was gazing up the steep incline in front of them to the fortress above.

She listened for a moment. "No. The perimeter is unguarded."

"Lucky for us he's an egomaniac." Domino grinned.

"Yes." Sooraya's voice was flat.

They made their way up the hill, toward the side of the fortress, Domino holding a gun at the ready. For several minutes they walked in silence, until they heard loud yelling, verging on screaming.

Laura gazed toward the front of the complex. "James." Pause. Her eyebrows drew together. "Stryfe…is torturing him."

Sooraya's hands formed fists. "We should help him."

"We can't do anything for him right now." Domino frowned. "We gotta find this thing. Stay focused on that."

Laura took a breath and nodded. Sooraya bowed her head but continued to follow them without further comment.

They finally reached the top of the hill and slipped into the large, grey, rounded structure. Laura suspected that it may have once been an aircraft or spacecraft of some sort, onto which additions had been built over the years, such as towers and spires.

They were soon confronted with a choice: to continue on the main level or go down a long staircase.

"Down?" Domino paused. "Just a hunch, but I doubt he'd keep his precious doo-hickey right at ground floor where it's easy to find."

Laura nodded. "Yes. Down."

"I agree." Sooraya's voice was once again flat.

Down they went, creeping along the stairs as quietly as they could, in case a trap awaited, the only light coming from Domino's gunlight, which she had switched on after a while. Laura's theory that this had once been a massive spacecraft was supported by electrical panels on the walls. They continued to descend for a long time.

She paused every so often to listen. Eventually she became aware of another set of vital signs, somewhere ahead in the dark. She stiffened, her eyebrows drawing together. They were…familiar somehow. Then a scent reached her nose, faint but present.

"No." She said this softly.

Domino stopped, turned to her, shining the light just below her face. "Hear something?"

Sooraya watched her as well, frowning slightly.

"I…" Laura lowered her gaze. "Her name was Kiden Nixon. She…she is my friend." She paused. "She has the ability to stop time."

"Okay." Domino frowned. "Let's see what's going on."

They reached the bottom of the staircase and then the floor. The room was getting lighter. Soon, Domino turned off her gun light, and they were approaching a dimly lit figure, seated in a strange chair, wires sprouting from all over her wrinkled, see-through paper skin and her head, which was covered by a thin layer of straw like white hair. She looked very, very old.

Sooraya covered her mouth with her hand.

"I'm guessing she didn't look like this when you knew her?" Domino asked.

Laura shook her head, hesitated. "We have to help her…pull her out of the device."

"I could erode the electronics." Sooraya paused. "Would that help?"

"No." Domino flicked the safety back on her gun and slid it into her holster, then began to examine the device. "We don't know what that will do to her. Or to time. Only safe way is a clean stop to the effect."

"Runrunhidehescomingtheycannothelpyou." Kiden mumbled this under her breath, very rapidly, like a mantra she had repeated many times. "Theendofallthingsiscoming."

Silence. Laura moved over to Kiden, touched her hand. "Do you remember me?"

Kiden looked up, her eyes white. "Laura?" Her voice was much clearer now. "…Laura, please…kill me."

Laura closed her eyes. "I…" her eyebrows drew together.  
There was a brief flash of light, from her wrist. She looked down and saw that the watch displayed _00:00:00._

Domino sighed. "Sorry, kid. I think this is how it has to go, or else we're not going to get out of here." She paused, reached for her holster. "You want to do it, or me?"

Laura gritted her teeth but did not answer.

"Got it." Domino pulled her firearm out, clicked off the safety and took aim. "Goodbye, Kiden. Sorry the end of your life had to suck like this…hope better things are waiting." _POP!_

"No!" Laura turned her head away. Her eyes began to burn.

"I'm sorry." Domino reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I am. We need to get out of here, okay? Your friend wanted to go, and I'm sure she would want you to keep living so someone remembers her."

"Yes." Sooraya took Laura's hand. "She is in a better place now. She was hurting. Now she is not." Her voice was soft.

Laura noted that she did not mention her beliefs anymore. She wondered why. But she nodded, reaching up and rubbing her palms over her eyes roughly. "We are already out of time. Cyclops said the devices are automatic…why did we not travel back?"

"I'm guessing your friend kept us here." Domino paused. "Maybe we gotta take them off?"

Laura considered this, then nodded.

"Yes, I think so too." Sooraya paused. "But we should find the others first."

Domino nodded too. "If Nathan can just grab Hope and get out of here, we won't have to keep fighting Stryfe. We can all just take our watches off and get the fuck out."

"Yes." Laura looked back at Kiden, then turned and headed toward the stairs.

* * *

The three ran toward the front of the fortress. Domino was beginning to cough, probably from the effects of overstaying in the future. But the former's hands were still steady on her gun. She was not going anywhere yet.

Sooraya had yet to falter. Blood was leaking lightly from the corners of her eyes, but she had made no movement to remove her band.

Laura eyed the courtyard ahead. She could see figures engaged in fighting. The rest of the group. And another, new addition. She did not recognize him. In the center of all of this was Stryfe. Hope floated in a bubble above him.

"Oh, _shit_." Domino stopped.

Laura and Sooraya gave her questioning looks.

"Bishop." Domino pointed at the unfamiliar figure. "I know Cyke said this was his trap…but I didn't think he was going to _be_ here, y'know? I figured Stryfe was challenge enough."

Laura zoomed in on Bishop. He was a big man, with dark skin, and tightly braided hair. One of his arms was prosthetic, made of metal. She could not tell if it was T.O. from this range. He was also holding a large rifle.

"He wants Hope dead." Domino grimaced. "Actually, he's the only reason we have to keep saving her. He's got it in his head that she wrecks his future."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "Then we should kill Bishop?"

Domino shrugged. "See, that's what I think. But Logan and Cyke think otherwise. He's an X-men…and they don't kill X-men." Pause. "Even if we wanted to, I don't think we _can._ Looks like he's buddies with Stryfe."

As she spoke, Bishop unleashed a torrent of energy on Logan, followed up by a wave from Stryfe that knocked him off his feet. He laid on the courtyard, twitching, his flesh on fire.

"…" Domino whistled. " _That_ had to hurt."

Sooraya winced.

"Yes." Laura ran her eyes over the combatants again. Stryfe. Bishop. Logan. James. Josh. Cable, on his knees in front of Stryfe. Hope, still in the air. Vanisher was nowhere to be seen. As was Julian, the person she was searching for. She guessed that the former had disappeared when Domino had killed Kiden, since his device had been removed long ago, but she doubted Julian had removed his. Even though the time was up. Where was he, then? Was he hurt?

The first pangs of illness prickled at her. She felt nauseous.

Beside her, Domino's hands began to shake a little. "Shit." She mumbled this. "Let's get this show on the road."

They resumed their journey toward the courtyard but had only gotten half of the way there when Domino slowed again.

"God. I feel like _crap._ " She wiped her forehead on her arm. Her face had a greenish pallor.

"I…" Sooraya closed her eyes. The blood was flowing more heavily now, and the skin around her eyes was blistering.

Laura said nothing. The illness was getting worse for her as well, but she was determined to reach the courtyard first. "We are almost there."

Domino and Sooraya nodded briefly. They resumed.

Finally, they reached the fight. Which was not really a fight anymore. Laura saw that the rest of their team was crawling on the ground, probably succumbing to the effects of their overstay. Now, Stryfe was merely attacking them for his own amusement.

"Stryfe… the girl." Bishop was aiming his rifle at Hope.

Stryfe glanced at him. "No." He grinned. "She is going to be my heir."

"We had a _deal!_ " Bishop shouted. "I helped you build this entire empire! I helped you kill Apocalypse! I even delivered Cable to you! You son of a bitch—" he shot a blast of energy at him from his prosthetic arm, but Stryfe raised his hand.

The beam froze in the air, then returned to Bishop's arm, which exploded in a shower of sparks and metal shrapnel. He landed on the courtyard, a stunned expression crossing his face.

A bright red light suddenly shot across the courtyard. _KABOOOM!_

Stryfe disappeared, tumbling down the incline from the courtyard.

Hope dropped to her hands and knees on the concrete. "Nathan!" she shouted, her voice shaking.

"Hey!" Deadpool shouted. "I got 'im!" He was standing at the edge of the courtyard, holding an enormous firearm of some sort. "I saved the messiah kid, right? Do I get a medal? A holiday in my honor?" He paused. "I want it to be like Christmas. And Halloween. Halloween's the best holiday. I always dress up as myself."

"Everyone, let's get the fuck out while the going's good!" Domino shouted. "Take off your bands! Nathan—get that girl out of here!"

Cable, who was hugging Hope, nodded. He raised his arm and began to tap a panel on the wrist, probably for time travel. "Hang on tight."

"NO!" Bishop grabbed his rifle with his remaining hand.

Laura began to run toward him, but he fired at Hope before she could reach him.

"Ugh!" Cable had moved to take the bullet. It caught his temple, and he slumped over.

"NATHAN!" Hope shouted, terrified. "He shot you—"

"Elixir, get over there and _heal_ him!" Logan roared.

Josh raised his head. Blood was dripping from his eyes. "…huh…oh…"

"Fuck." Domino dropped to her knees, just behind Laura. "I'm…d-done…"

Sooraya had already collapsed in a pool of grey and black robes.

Laura moved over to Josh, looped her arm around his, and began to drag him across the courtyard to Cable. Just a little further. She dragged Josh faster. A moment later, and his fingers were touching Cable's. "Please. Heal him." She paused. "Hurry. Or we will all die."

"…" Josh closed his eyes. _Paft!_

"Good. Now heal yourself." She pressed his fingers against his chest. " _Do it."_

Josh was unconscious. His skin was turning grey. Flaking.

She closed her eyes, then made a fist. _Snkkt!_ She cut Josh's watch off. He disappeared.

"NO!" Cable.

Laura twisted around to see Stryfe floating in the air above them all. "Now I'm _angry._ "

Hope was once again in a bubble, rising above him. "…"

He reached out, and Bishop's rifle bent. Then Deadpool slid over to him.

"Uh—hi." Deadpool paused. "You like my laser cannon? You can have—" _SHRRIP._ "…it…" he trailed off.

Stryfe threw his lower half down the incline, then dropped his upper half on the courtyard below. He turned back to the others. "Now…where were we?"

"Please, let me go!" Hope was pounding against the walls of her bubble.

Laura realized that several of her teammates were already dead. Domino and James. Sooraya. Their hearts had just stopped. Logan was beginning to seize. She bowed her head, looked at Cable. "What should…uhgnn…what do I do?"

"We have to get Hope out of that bubble." Cable paused. "She's—"

"Good luck." Stryfe reached out toward him, dragged him over. "Nathan. Now that the distractions are gone…I'm going to take my time killing you." He paused. "And your precious Hope is going to watch, aren't you? The first step to being a strong leader is—" he disappeared in a wave of invisible force which sent him spinning across the courtyard, plates of armor flying off in every which direction.

Hope began to drop to the courtyard. From high in the air. About fifty feet. Laura scrambled toward her, trying to ascertain where she would land. A few moments later, the girl landed in her arms, unharmed. "You are…safe." Laura's forehead wrinkled. "I…think."

Two figures had arrived. One was Julian, his shield glowing around his skin. The other she did not recognize. He was very large, with pale, bluish skin, lips that seemingly wrapped around his head, and heavy plates of armor that seemed to be a part of his body.

Her eyes shifted back to the former. Julian was bleeding from his orifices, probably from the effects of staying past the time limit. But he was alive. And in one piece. She let out a breath, in relief. Perhaps he would survive.

Stryfe was looking up at them, his eyes wide. "What…but…but I _killed_ you."

"First…I will restore the worthy." The stranger had a very deep, rumbling voice. He reached out, and the heartbeats around them restarted. Laura looked around, her eyebrows drawing together. Then she looked at him again.

The stranger nodded. "And now…to cull the weak."

"Shit." Cable mumbled this. "Stupid kid. _Stupid._ "

"Wait—" Stryfe laughed. "You're allied with this _child?_ I defeated him earlier. Without even thinking about it. And I defeated _you_ as well." He paused. "Surely you're not counting me among the weak."

"You wake me in my slumber, stab me in the back, and consider yourself strong?" The stranger reached out.

"URRK—" Stryfe slapped his hands against his torso, then tore his helmet off and glared at the pair. "Come here, child."

He reached out, but Julian did not move. The stranger opened his fist and turned his hand, making a downward motion. Stryfe fell to his knees, and his helmet clattered across the courtyard. He glared at the stranger for a moment longer, then bowed his head in resignation.

"The Age of Stryfe is over." The stranger paused, looked at Hope, in Laura's arms. "Hmmm. This girl. She is…" he reached out, and Laura felt him pulling her away. She held on as hard as she could and was dragged along with Hope to his feet. "Yes." He paused. "A worthy vessel." He paused, then raised his hand toward Laura. "You may die now or join me. Choose."

"N-no." Julian glared at him. He was slumping slightly now, holding his abdomen. "I helped you. You don't g-get to take her."

The stranger glanced at him. "You would challenge me?"

"I saved your _life_." Julian's lip curled. "You're not dying right now because I helped you. You…you owe me."

"I owe you nothing." The stranger paused. "But it is true. You have…utility. And she is too small anyway." He made a dismissive gesture and looked at Cable. "Very well. Take her."

Cable scrambled over to Hope, his face pale. He grabbed her arm, tapped his wrist again, and then they were gone.

"Mother..." Bishop fiddled with something on his belt and disappeared too.

Julian sank to his knees, clearly beginning to succumb to the cellular decay. He reached out, and one by one the others disappeared, their time pieces falling to the ground, smoking. Then he reached for Laura's timepiece.

Sweat beaded on her forehead. Her healing factor was being overwhelmed. But she shook her head, her eyebrows drawing together, and covered her timepiece with her hand. She would not leave the future until she knew that he had, too.

He looked down at his own timepiece, but nothing happened.

"No." The stranger said this. "You will be at my side. Your power will grow. I will repair the cellular damage"

"N-no..." Julian mumbled this, then was silent, unconscious.

"I gave you the girl's life." The stranger paused. "Now you will give me yours." He reached out to Julian and lifted him up with his mind.

"Please. Stop it." Laura struggled to make her voice audible.

"I require a new body." The stranger paused. "And new horsemen. He will be my horseman of Death." The stranger made a fist with his free hand, and a circle of light formed in the air.

Laura's eyebrows drew together. He would take Julian and she would never be able to find him again. Her eyes burned.

"Yo! Mr. Apocalypse!"

Laura and the stranger looked at the source of the voice. Deadpool. Sitting with his head propped on his hands. His body ended at his torso.

"…" She began to look away.

"Can I call you Poco?" Deadpool paused. "I'm gonna call you Poco, kay? Has a nice friendly ring to it. I betcha don't have many friends, looking like that."

"You would _dare_ to address me?" The stranger did not sound pleased.

Deadpool shrugged. "I don't have a lot of boundaries." He held up a finger. "But I _do_ have an idea. I'm kind of the big picture, ideas guy on this team."

Laura watched him, too exhausted to comment.

The stranger was silent.

"So, I spent a loooooooooooong looooooong loooooooooooong time with Stryfe-y here." Deadpool jerked his thumb over his shoulder, pointing at Stryfe, who was watching this exchange dejectedly. "He's got what one of 'em head quacks would call some major daddy issues. He whines a lot how you never spend time with him. Even mentioned once or twice that he was gonna be your new body, back when we were comparing sob stories." Pause. "I think I heard you need one of those, right?"

The stranger studied Deadpool. "What makes you think he is yours to barter? I defeated him."

"Yeah, but I totally tenderized him first with my laser cannon." Deadpool pointed to the cannon, lying several feet away from him. "And then he ripped me in half and threw my legs down the hill. So I figure someone owes me _something._ " Pause. "Plus, I just gave you this awesome idea, royalty free. It's a win-win-win."

"…" The stranger closed his eyes. "I grow weary. Be silent."

"No, you shut up!" Deadpool pointed at Stryfe now. "Just take him and leave the kid. I mean, he's kind of dying right now anyway…is he really worth _that_ much as a fixer-upper? Think of all the time and money you'd spend."

The stranger glanced at Julian, whose head was lolling back. Then he dropped him and reached out.

Stryfe rose into the air. "No, please—" he shouted.

The stranger had already dragged him into the circle of light. Which closed behind them.

 _Thud!_ Julian fell to the courtyard, face-down, and was still.

Laura crawled toward him as quickly as her decaying body would allow. She could hear his vital signs. They were faint. She was finally by his side, picking up his hand and turning it over gently, her claw sliding under the strap of his timepiece. It fell away from Julian's arm, and he disappeared, as if he had never been.

"Legs! Good legs! Over here!" Deadpool was yelling, behind them.

Laura hung her head. "…thank you…" she said, beginning to slip her claw under her own time piece, which was now loose around her wrist. Much of her flesh had decayed.

"Wait a sec!" Deadpool shouted. "Could use a hand before you go. Or a leg, hehehehe."

Laura looked up, swayed at the motion. When her vision cleared, she saw that his legs were walking past his torso, as if searching for it. "…"

"Just pick me up and jam my spine together!" Deadpool paused. "Or get my legs to stop running around. Otherwise it's gonna be a boring couple of centuries."

Laura sighed and crawled over to his legs, which had stopped nearby. They were tapping one foot. "How…how do I…"

"Just knock em over or something." Deadpool dragged his torso toward her. "I just gotta get near the meaty end for a bit."

Laura closed her eyes but managed to club the back of his knee. His legs skipped and took a step forward. "…"

"Dammit." Deadpool paused. "Ok, let's flank 'em. You tackle this way, I'll tackle that way." He pointed.

Laura nodded slowly. With the last of her energy, she threw herself at his legs. They began to run in the other direction, but Deadpool crashed into them and succeeded in knocking them to the ground.

"AHA!" He crawled around, and a moment later, sat up, intact. "Thanks, X! Tell Betty we're even now, kay?"

Laura let her head drop to the courtyard. She began to drift away. In the last moment, she slid her claw through her watchband.


	33. Chapter 33 - Enough

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the reviews, love hearing the feedback and knowing people are enjoying the story! I am enjoying writing it very much :) I'm especially excited to get to this point. Hope you all continue to enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 33

 _Enough_

* * *

At first, there was no change. Laura's face was pressed against a rough surface. Sound was gone. Sight was gone. Only touch remained. Even that was not complete, but it was reassuring. She was most likely alive.

Something fell on her hand. She was not certain what, but it was also reassuring.

She was not sure how long she had lain there, when sound began to return. Thumping. Slow thumping. It was familiar. She realized that it was a heartbeat, and that it was Julian's. The thing that had flopped down on her was his fingers on hers. He was alive. She was alive. It was over. They had succeeded.

"You…nngnn…here?" he wheezed.

"Y…yes." Laura paused. "Call…call Josh…"

"He's…coming…" Pause. "Oh… _fuck_ …"

She was about to ask him what he meant, when it happen. _THWPP!_

A brief jolt of pain. Like a dart. She opened an eye and slowly examined the blurry object. She could just see dim shapes now, but there was a long thing sticking out of the round shape she assumed was her shoulder.

"…dart…." Julian mumbled. "…run…" he sighed, and then his breathing became shallow and regular. He was unconscious. Again.

Laura began to feel the effects too. Her senses had been clearing, slowly but steadily, but now they were dimming again. She let her head press against the rough surface as before, her eyelids drifting shut.

The last noise she was aware of was heavily metallic. A car door slamming.

* * *

 _Paft!_

Laura sat up, her eyes wide. "Where—"

"Hey, it's okay!" Josh was holding her hand, grinning at her. "You made it. _We_ made it. Good job, team."

"Almost a total loss." Logan grunted, from behind her. "But…no one died, so that's somethin' I guess." Pause. "And Hope's fine. Cyke made contact with Cable."

"Julian." Laura grasped Josh's hand, her forehead wrinkled. "He—someone took him. When we returned."

"Of course they did." Logan sighed. "Alright. We got any details to go on?"

Laura closed her eyes, trying to recall the events. Her memories were murky. "A van. And…they shot us with darts." She pulled the projectile out of her shoulder and held it up.

" _Fuck._ " Logan's voice was sharp.

Laura looked up at him, her eyebrows drawing together.

Logan took the dart examined it for a moment, then closed his eyes. "God fuckin' damnit. It's the Leper Queen's."

* * *

Julian raised his head very, very slowly. It felt like his skull was full of lead. And pain. Definitely pain. Sharp, pounding pain.

Where was he? He had been lying on the asphalt beside Laura. He'd been out of it to begin with, the world foggy and distorted, his body aching right down to his bones. Overall, he had felt like he was dying. But things had slowly been getting better. His sight and hearing had been sharpening until he could figure out where he was, and what was happening. He knew he was in an alley, in the present, by the sounds of the cars passing on the main street nearby, and he knew that Laura was there beside him.

He guessed that he had been in better shape than her because of his shield. Or maybe something about the T/O. When he had finally scraped his wits together enough to glance at her, he saw that she resembled a corpse that had been recently exhumed, but also that she was healing, slowly, flesh creeping back in to fill the gaps. And she had responded to him, when he had touched her hand and asked if she was alive. He had one moment where he thought they were okay. That it was all over and they could relax.

Then…the dart in his arm. Now, this. He felt worse. Much, much worse. He was dying again, but there was something else. Instead of fading away, it was getting sharper. More urgent.

"Ugghh...never thought…I'd be d-dying with _you._ "

He opened his eyes a crack, winced against the light, even though it was dim. There was someone sitting in front of him. Very familiar. She had choppy blue hair. "Nnn…Nori." His eyebrows drew together. "Wha...what're you…wherrre arre we?" His words were slurred, slowed down, until he could barely understand them himself.

"Beats me." She paused. "But…I f-feel like shit…you?"

"Uh…huh." Julian closed his eyes again. His arms were bound tightly behind his back. Which did not like that at all. They ached. Deep, hot, feverish aching. His uniform felt wet. Probably with blood. He could taste it in his mouth. Or maybe it was sweat. Sweat was beading out of his forehead, rolling down his nose.

"They g-gave us something…I mean, besides the dope." Nori's teeth were chattering. "Something in a b-big syringe…there was this woman with…with a hockey m-mask…"

Julian flinched. Instantly, he understood. The Leper Queen. Legacy virus. They were going to become the next Beautiful Dreamer…the next Fever Pitch…the next…his eyebrows drew together. No, it would be worse. Much worse. There were two of them this time. And they were both much more powerful than either of the previous victims. "Fffuck." His voice was ragged. His throat hurt.

There were beads of sweat on Nori's forehead too. "It's d-doing something to my p-powers…like I'm g-going to b-blow…" she closed her eyes. "N-nice…knowing you…K-keller."  
They must have had Nori longer than him. "Nuh-no." He gritted his teeth. "Lissen. You…you kin do it. Keeper…shit together…Ashida."

She didn't answer, but she did start shaking harder. Sparks were rolling off her skin and snapping in the air. Like a Van de Graaf generator. She couldn't contain the electricity much longer. She was going to explode.

"…" Julian closed his eyes. For a moment, he considered taking Nori out. But he knew, the moment he did so, it would start something he couldn't stop. The slightest use of his powers and the dam would burst. And beneath that…he couldn't. He couldn't kill Nori. "Just…just focus… you can…can….do this…okay?" He whispered this.

Nori shook her head, very slightly.

"Can you…get us…out of here?"

"What good'sthatgoingtodo?" Nori looked up at him. Her eyes were white now, sparking. "Gonnaexplodeanywaysoonwontmatter."

He knew she was right. There was no way to stop the Legacy virus once an individual was infected. Even if they did escape. Plus, he was sure the Leper Queen had taken them somewhere hard to escape. And, judging by Nori's speech, she was too far gone for any kind of fight. He tilted his head back against the wall of the van. He didn't even feel angry at the situation. He just felt tired. Defeated.

The only hope was that Laura wasn't here. Which meant the Leper Queen might have left her behind. And that meant she would let Logan know he had been taken. The team would come. How would they stop the virus? His eyebrows drew together. The air around him was getting hot. Green flames flickering in the corner of his vision. Energy was starting to leak out of him, too. He shook his head, squeezed his eyes shut. That reminded him of something. What was it? Right. The last time he'd been in contact with Legacy. He had burned it out. Could he do that now? His eyebrows drew together, and he gritted his teeth. Maybe. He had to focus, had to…

The door slid open. The light was blinding for a moment. They were in the back of a van. A figure was looking in at them. A figure with a hockey mask. "Carry them in." The Leper Queen had a dry, raspy voice.

Nori cried out and struggled as a man reached into the space and dragged her out. Sparks danced on the floor in her wake. Julian closed his eyes. From the brief glance at the outside, he could tell they were near a very busy, public area. He didn't know where. Another man was reaching for him now, dragging him out.

"You know what to do." The Leper Queen turned to her men. "Haul these worms up to the center. Don't dawdle."

"Yes ma'am!"

Julian closed his eyes. So that was it. Even if they had saved the future, he wasn't going to have one.

 _VTT!_

"What the—"

 _Snikt!_ "Get them." Logan's voice.

Scuffling noises. _Snkkt! Shlunk! Shlunk!_ "Htt—"

Julian looked over his shoulder. Two claws were sticking out of the Leper Queen's forehead. _Snakt._ She slid to the ground to reveal Laura. Her eyes were red, but that was the mask. Right? His head swam. There was another time her eyes had been red…she was running toward him.

 _Shlunk!_ as Logan took out his captor. His support.

Julian struggled to stay vertical, then he gave up and began to fall. Laura reached him in time, catching his elbow. "Josh!" she shouted, beside his ear. He leaned against her heavily, his eyes sliding shut again. The pressure in his head was building, straining against his skull. He was about to…about to…to…

More scuffling noises. Josh grabbed his arms.

 _Wump! Shlunk! Thump! Shlunk! Thump!_ in the background. But Laura was still holding him. Supporting him. He felt her breath on his neck.

 _Pffft-_ the golden glow began, intensifying until even their outlines disappeared. "Ugh...it's…it's really fighting me…" Josh groaned. "This is insane…hang on…never…n-never done anything like…like this…worse than…Deadpool even…"

Then, suddenly, the pain was gone. The pressure in his head seems to ebb as if it had been absorbed somehow. He blinked, then straightened. "That was—"

 _Thump!_

Josh had collapsed in front of him.

Laura inhaled sharply behind him.

"God _damn_ it!" Logan dropped to his knees and started shaking Josh's shoulder. "Kid! _Wake up!_ You're not done here!"

Julian shook his head. "He's out. Can't even get a read on his mind." He glanced at Nori, who was sitting on the asphalt. Her head was bowed to her chest, sparks dancing around her periphery as she absorbed more static energy from the air molecules around her. She was barely conscious. She was wobbling, like a top. Any second now. As soon as she passed out and let go.

He reached out, pulling Nori up with his mind, then took to the air.

"NO!" He heard Laura shout, but he didn't turn back.

* * *

Laura gazed up at the bright blue sky, shielding her eyes against the sun.

"God damn." Logan paused. "If this doesn't work…"

"How far out you think it'll go?" Vanisher asked. He sounded nervous. "Should I port us somewhere else?" Pause. "North pole, maybe?"

He, Logan, and Josh were standing with her at the harbor, watching as Julian shot upward, holding Nori. He was already several thousand feet up, and showing no signs of stopping.

"No." Laura's eyebrows drew together, and she bit her lip. She was afraid she was about to watch him die. Yet again. But this time, there may not be anything left to salvage. She had seen what the last Legacy virus victim had done. The flaming skeleton. His name had been Fever Pitch, something she had learned on the news reports that had been all over the TV afterward. Julian's shield had barely stopped any of the damage then. And Fever Pitch had been much less powerful than Nori.

 _KRAK-OOOM!_

The sky erupted in electricity, followed by a massive flash of green light. Everyone shielded their eyes. Then the light faded, and Laura scanned the harbor desperately. She saw ripples on the surface of the water, and began to run forward, but Logan caught her wrist.

"Vanisher!" he shouted.

 _VTT!_

A few moments later, Vanisher returned with another _VTT!_ and the pair stretched out on the pavement beside him, unconscious, dripping pools of water onto the concrete.

Laura knelt beside Julian, shook his shoulder. He did not respond. But he was breathing, and his heart was beating. She closed her eyes, let out the breath she had been holding, then leaned down and pressed her face against his shoulder.

* * *

Laura sat in the infirmary, her fingers pressed against Julian's metal ones. He had been asleep for an entire day now, even though Dr. McCoy had given him nutrients by IV early on. Apparently, he had depleted all of his resources on funneling Nori's electrical storm into the atmosphere.

Nori was also still sleeping, recovering from the events of earlier. Since Julian had managed to siphon the energy way from her and into the sky, she had not been too badly damaged by the explosion. However, she had still been infected with the virus, and the energy had simply begun to build again. Then Josh had woken. Logan had promptly grabbed him and shoved him at Nori's bed, yelling for him to heal. She was now virus-free, and Josh was unconscious again. Dr. McCoy had hooked him up to IV nutrients too.

Frost had been speaking with Dr. McCoy when Logan and Laura had dragged the three into the infirmary. Her eyes had flickered from Julian, to Laura, to Josh, and then to Logan and Vanisher, seemingly noting their matching uniforms. Her eyebrows had arched, then she had left the infirmary without a word. Later, Laura had heard Frost and Cyclops arguing outside the infirmary, earlier, about the involvement of "the children" with his "little operation."

The headmistress told Cyclops that she had so far "turned a blind eye" to his "rather clumsy" attempts to keep his operation under wraps, and that while she may not be as "idealistic and stubborn as Grey," she drew the line at "her students," and could not believe he would "dare to involve them," that she had now "seen enough." Cyclops had requested that they finish the discussion telepathically, but Frost had told him that "some things need to be said out loud." Then, her skin had shifted to diamond. Her heels had clicked loudly against the floor as she walked away.

Laura pressed her face against Julian's hand, closing her eyes. She had almost lost him. Again. For the second time in a very short period. This bothered her, even more than her own near death in the future had bothered her. And Cyclops had gazed on them, in the infirmary, arguing calmly with Frost. Something about this also bothered her. She kept returning to it.

"Kid." Logan's voice.

Laura looked up, startled. It was later. She had slept.

"How's he doing?"

Laura frowned. "He is still sleeping. You should be able to detect—"

"I was bein' polite." Logan shook his head. "Never mind."

She said nothing.

"Take a break for a bit. Come see the girls. They been askin' about you."

"Later."

"Have you eaten?"

"No."

"He's not dyin', Laura. He'll be there when you get back." Logan folded his arms. "Let's go."

Laura was about to protest again, but her stomach rumbled. She was hungry, and she needed to bathe. Her uniform was still splattered with blood and was beginning to smell foul.

After a moment, Laura got to her feet and followed Logan out of the infirmary.

* * *

Julian opened his eyes slowly. He was in a dimly lit room, full of soft beeping, and steady breathing. Somewhere in the school, judging by the minds around him. The infirmary. He lifted his head a little, which hurt, but it was nothing compared to the pounding he had experienced when he was infected with the Legacy virus.

He looked around the room. In the bed across from his was Nori, and beside her, Josh. Both were sleeping. His eyebrows drew together, as he realized that Laura wasn't anywhere to be seen. The chair beside his bed was empty. Granted, so was Nori's and Josh's. But a little part of him had expected that Laura would be here now. That somehow, in some way, she still cared.

His throat tightened. She must have really meant it. They were over. He closed his eyes, let his head sink back into the pillows. Even though he had just slept for ages, he felt tired, and defeated. The way he had in the van. From somewhere, Cessily's words came back. _Focus on yourself for a while. Maybe get out of here. Take a break from the whole mutant scene._

That sounded good. One thing he was certain of, was he was _done._ He was tired of being disposable. Of things like time travel. And being kidnapped. And being _used._ What happened the next time Bastion made a move on them? Or Bishop tried to kill Hope again? Or Stryfe showed up? He knew he would die someday, but not for this. This endless fight. He had finally had enough.

But _where?_ Where would he go? His whole _life_ was here. He hadn't spoken to his family since they had disowned him, and he wasn't sure he wanted to, not after discovering the kind of people they were. The kind of people he was fighting against.

Julian opened his eyes, then sat up and yanked the IV tubes from his wrist. He'd had an idea. And he didn't want to lie around anymore, waiting for bad things to come his way. He pushed his covers off, got out of bed, and headed for the infirmary doors.

* * *

Laura slumped over, leaning her cheek on her hand as she watched her clones consume leftover pizza, which Santo had apparently introduced them to in her absence. She doubted it had much nutritional content, but she was still too tired from going almost two days without solid, restful sleep to argue with an easily prepared meal that her clones were very enthusiastic about. She had already eaten several slices herself.

Sarah was apparently assisting Dr. McCoy with a genome tracing project, and Cessily was assisting Rogue and Pixie, so the clones had been staying with Santo for the day. After Laura had taken a quick shower, she found them watching _Lost_ in the rec room.

"Wait, what the heck is goin' on?" Santo sounded confused. "Guy's ping-pongin' around to all these different time points and no one notices he ain't in the chopper no more?"

"I do not think Desmond has actually left the helicopter." Alice whispered this.

"He is having an out-of-mind experience." Gabby paused. "We do not know what it means, but Cessily always says this during the scenes where Desmond behaves abnormally."

"Oh, okay." Santo paused again. "Wait, so it's the island causin' this, or what?"

"We believe so." Betty paused. "Perhaps it is like Krakoa, the living island. The Frost-witch showed us profiles in the danger room one day."

"Cool." Santo had grunted. "Hey Laura."

The clones had been so absorbed with the show that it took them another five minutes to realize she had joined them. Laura had hugged each of them tightly, thinking of the moments she had thought she might not return to do so. This also bothered her.

Now, the clones had eaten, as had she, and she had one more thing to take care of. She returned them to Santo. He had already agreed to keep watching them, stating that he "needed to catch up on this shit anyway." As she escorted her clones back to the rec room, Santo glanced up at her from the couch, lowering the volume of the TV slightly. "Uh, weird question for ya X…but Cess still likes this show, right?"

Laura raised an eyebrow, nodded slightly. Her clones were already gathering around the TV, murmuring to each other about the smoke monster, which had just appeared on the screen. They appeared to be strategizing.

"Cool." He grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. "Not wastin' my time then."

She hesitated. "You do not…like it?"

"Nah, not really my thing." He shrugged. "I'm more into stuff like _24_. But I figured it'd give us somethin' to talk about, coz we're not talkin' much these days, y'know?"

Laura nodded, frowned.

"Speakin' of." Santo eyed her. "You and Jules patched things up yet?"

"'Patched'?"

"Uh, like…talked things out."

"No." Laura hesitated. "But I am going to, now."

"Cool!" Santo said again. "He can be a bit ornery. Want me to like choke-hold him so he'll shut up and listen?"

Laura paused. "No, I am capable of doing so if necessary."

"Damn. Bet you ain't kidding." Santo grinned. "Well, good luck with that." He saluted her.

"Thank you." She turned and exited the rec room, her eyes on the stairs ahead.

* * *

Julian was heading back to his room. He'd showered, and eaten, and had a long, long talk with Frost. A talk that had helped him figure some things out, such as where he was going next. For the first time in a long time, he was thinking about something other than targets, and strategy, and all the things that had filled his life lately.

He reached the hallway before the one his room was attached to, then paused, sensing a presence ahead. Nori. She was waiting for him. Which was weird. For a while there, a few years ago, he and Nori had been getting along. Then, he'd left to join the team and find Laura, and she had dropped off his radar entirely. When he had run into her again, she had nodded at him coolly in the hallway, but that was it. He had the sense that she was miffed with him but hadn't bothered to find out why.

Yeah, they had shared the Legacy experience lately, but he didn't think that really counted as spending time together, anything that warranted a visit like this. He turned the corner. "Hey, what's up?"

"I wanted to say thanks." Nori paused, smiling at him slightly. "You know? For saving my life and all."

He raised his eyebrows. "I saved a lot of other people too, Ashida."

Her smile faded, and she folded her arms.

"You don't see _them_ thanking me." He shrugged. "It's not something you need to thank me for."

Nori raised an eyebrow too. "True. Still. Thanks."

"No problem." Julian reached out, offered her his hand.

After a moment, she took it, and they shook.

Nori frowned. "Maybe the rumors are true."

His forehead wrinkled. "Rumors?"

"That you're a little less of a douche these days."

Julian grinned. "Is that a bad thing?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's just…you know, everything has changed around here, so much in the past couple of years. I feel like a dinosaur sometimes."

His grin faded. "Yeah."

They were both silent for a moment.

"Well…it was good catching up." Nori paused. "Never thought I'd say it, but maybe we should hang out sometime?" She glanced up at him.

Julian's forehead wrinkled. He could see exactly what was going through her mind, because she was projecting her thoughts quite loudly, and it wasn't hanging out. She was pissed at him for not even speaking to her. She had kissed him that one time in the library, and he'd been interested…and then, nothing. But she never stopped liking him.

For a moment he hesitated. He was hurting. He knew he shouldn't. But there was another part of him that wanted to tell Laura to fuck off, that wished he could show her just how done he was with all of the shit she'd caused him. A moment later he was kissing Nori, his eyebrows drawing together. A moment later and she was opening his door with one of her hands, the other buried in his hair.

* * *

ONE MONTH LATER

Laura leaned against the wall of the hotel, pay phone cradled against her ear as she waited for the line to be picked up.

"Hello?" Logan's gruff voice was filled with annoyance, as it usually was. He did not like phone calls.

"Sir, you have a call from a Laura Kinney in Tokyo, Japan. Do you accept the charges?"

"Yeah, I'll accept the charges." Logan cleared his throat. "Hey Laura, how's it goin'?"

She shrugged slightly. "There is nothing to report. Daken is still with the same group. I believe they are still working on the same plan."

"Gotcha." He paused. "Lemme know when they're about to move. Might make an appearance."

"Yes." Laura hesitated for a moment, took a breath, then shook her head. "Sarah…my clones…how are they?"

"Fine." Logan grunted. "Sarah's been spendin' a lot of time with them. Seems to be keepin' them in line, teachin' them. Lifesaver, since we're pretty busy right now. And short handed. Bunch of people upped and left."

Laura closed her eyes, her eyebrows drawing together. "And you?"

"Busy an' tired, but nothin' I can't handle." Pause. "Wanna talk to the girls?"

Laura fingered the phone cord. "Okay."

There were sounds of Logan walking around, moving the phone. "SQUIRTS, WHERE THE HELL ARE Y—oh. Laura's on the line, wants to talk to you guys. Hang on, Laura, I'm gonna try puttin' you on speakerphone."

Another commotion. Scrambling noises. Then buttons being pressed, and she could hear everyone. She smiled slightly. "Hi."

"WHY IS HER VOICE COMING FROM THAT BOX?!" Betty sounded extremely concerned.

"SHE'S TRAPPED! WE NEED TO FREE HER IMMEADIATLEY!" Alice?

"ALICE GET OUT OF THE WAY, I WILL STAB IT!" Gabby? Or Betty again?

 _Snkkt! Snkkt! Snkkt!_

"No, girls—" Logan sounded alarmed too.

Scrambling noises. More buttons being pressed. Or mashed. Crunching. Logan roaring. Then the call ended abruptly.

Laura pursed her lips, then dialed Logan's cell phone again, but it did not ring this time. Probably because it had been destroyed. After a while, she hung the receiver back on the hook and headed back up to her room.

* * *

Laura pressed her fingers against the glass of the window, gazing out across Tokyo. The lights were bright and neon, and the city was lively, even though it was past midnight. The streets had been filled with many different sounds and smells, and there had been moments in which she had been tempted to divert from her current surveillance mission.

But now all was quiet, and she had familiarized herself with the smell of this place, and her mind was beginning to wander back to those she had left behind. As always.

When Cyclops and Logan had asked her to take on this assignment, monitoring Daken's associations in Tokyo as he completed some sort of contract with the Yakuza that Kimura had arranged prior to her death, she had not hesitated. Knowing that Sarah and Logan would take care of the clones in her absence, and perhaps be more proficient at raising them than herself, she had boarded the next available flight for Tokyo, carrying only her backpack. Which was lighter, as she had left the book of fairytales for the clones. They liked to have a story or two read from it every night. She had also written her standard disclaimer statement on a sheet of notepaper and tucked it between the cover and the first page, to be read prior to any stories, in an effort to prevent Alice from coming to false conclusions that said stories were in any way factual.

She missed her clones greatly and found herself thinking of them often. She had even purchased souvenirs to give to them upon her return. This was something she had never done in her life. Granted, at the time, she had been eavesdropping on Daken's contact as he met with an associate, and the purchase had been performed to maintain her cover. They had glanced at her several times already. But she had chosen the particular items, polyester stuffed animals, based on what she thought each clone might like best. She had never used such objects herself, but her clones did not seem as limited in such matters as she was, and she wished to encourage this. Also, perhaps it would result in less applications of fiction to the real world.

In addition to missing her clones, there was also the dark, heavy sensation. The cause of which she did not like to think about. When she closed her eyes at night, she could still feel the sinking in her stomach, the hairs raising on the back of her neck, the tightness in her throat. The way the lights had seemed too bright, her body cold and frozen as she watched. No, she did not like to recall this.

She sniffed, hard, then headed to her bed and crawled in, her knuckles itching. _Snkkt,_ as she popped a claw and drew it lightly along her wrist, watching the blood well up, very wet looking in the semi darkness. But when she finally stopped her motions, the sensation had not lightened. At all. _Snakt._ She rolled onto her back and gazed up at the ceiling, her eyes burning and filling up. Even though she did not like to recall the scene, she did. Over and over and over.

* * *

Laura was sitting in a restaurant, listening to Daken converse with several businessmen, about some sort of "shipment." He had a smooth, lulling voice, and excellent pronunciation and fluency. Even if she had not known he had been raised here, she would have guessed it from his speech.

"Your associates promised us it would arrive on Thursday." Daken's tone was cold now. "I expect there will be a _significant_ discount."

"Yes, ten percent."

"Ten percent is hardly significant."

"Ten percent is what we are authorized to offer."

"I am insulted." Daken paused. "Do you intend to _anger_ me?" Pause. "Do you _know_ who my family is?"

"No! I don't like peas!"

Laura's eyes drifted across the restaurant, to the little girl in the high chair who had just thrown down her spoon, shaking her head, with a disgusted look.

"Peas are good for you." Her father paused, picked up the spoon. "You want to grow up big and strong, yes? So you can come with me on my trips?"

The girl paused, looked as if she was reconsidering. "Maybe…"

Laura watched as the mother smiled. She looked at the table, her eyebrows drawing together.

"We are well aware of who your family is. Even here, we have heard of them."

The other businessman coughed. "We would never wish to offend them."

"Family is important." Daken paused. "There is nothing more important. In fact, I keep in _regular_ contact. So not only would you contend with my wrath…should I become angry."

Laura closed her eyes. She knew Daken was lying. He did not contact Logan, ever. And he was not married. But… _family._ This word made the heavy feeling intensify. Her hands curled into fists at her sides.

"Hello, Laura." Daken's voice. In English. Very little of his Japanese accent remained.

Laura's eyes snapped open, and she looked at the booth. The businessmen had left. But Daken was still sitting inside, his back to her.

"Why don't you come sit down, and we'll talk, properly?" Daken's voice was lulling again.

"How do you know—" she began.

"Oh, I know everything about you." Daken motioned her over with his finger. "You're my father's little genetic clone. My _aunt,_ I suppose."

Laura got up and approached the table warily, slid into an empty seat.

"You have quite the reputation." Daken paused. "I was _warned_ about you. Which is something." He smiled slowly. "Most people warn others about _me._ "

Laura said nothing.

Daken leaned back. "Quiet. I like it. It makes you harder to read. A challenge."

She raised her eyebrows.

"But I can see you have an empty soul." He paused. "You should join me. We could work together…split profits…think of the things we could _accomplish._ We could be royalty out here."

Laura's lip curled. "I do not wish to be royalty."

"Then what do you wish for?" Daken grinned. "Ah, I know. _Family._ "

Her eyebrows drew together, very quickly, in surprise. "How do you—" she began again.

Daken tapped his ear. "Not much escapes me."

Her vital signs. They must have jumped at the term. He possessed enhanced senses too. Laura closed her eyes.

"We're practically family." Daken leaned forward again. "We _should_ work together. I could use a hand making sure that shipment is discounted, what do you say?"

Laura paused. The perfect excuse to stay near him, surveil all his interactions, become intimate with his plans… "No."

Daken looked surprised as well. "Excuse me?"

Laura rose to her feet and headed toward the restaurant door, not really sure where she was going. It was not until she was at the airport with her bags that she had figured it out.

Home.

* * *

"Laura." Cyclops looked up from the papers he was reading, his forehead wrinkling. "This is…unexpected. Did something go wrong?"

She shook her head. "No." Pause. "Daken offered me a position with him."

"Oh." Cyclops paused. "Why are you here, then?"

Laura shook her head. "I did not accept."

He raised an eyebrow. "Well…I guess I can see how it would be hard. Daken is Logan's son. Family things can get kind of messy."

"Yes."

"I can reroute Domino to Tokyo, if you'll take her mission." He smiled slightly. "Madrid, Spain. I'll need you to—"

"No." Laura closed her eyes. "Enough."

Cyclops paused. "Excuse me?"

She reached up, undid her X badge, and put it down on his table.

His forehead wrinkled. "Laura…these are desperate times. We could really use your help, if you'll—"

"No."

"It doesn't have to be—"

"No." Laura frowned. "I am done. I have…more important things to do."

Silence. Cyclops pushed his glasses up his nose, frowned. Then he sighed. "Okay." Pause. "Thank you for your help. Just…let me know if you change your mind later."

"I will not." Laura turned and left his office, her shoulders squared.

* * *

Laura stood in front of the door, her lips pressed into a line. This was the same door that had closed over a month ago, leaving her outside. Now, it guarded an empty room. She could tell, from outside, that his scent was very faint. He had left it sometime shortly after she had gone to Japan. And had not returned. What had happened?

After several minutes, she headed down the hallway again, passing the place she had stood frozen as she watched. Her hands formed fists. She would not allow it to happen again, she promised herself. Soon, she was at another door. Cessily's. Knocking.

She answered shortly, her eyes widening when she saw who it was. "LAURA! What—I thought—are you back? Logan said—"

"Where is Julian?" Laura asked.

"Oh." Cessily's face fell, and she hesitated. "He left. Uh, a couple days after you did, actually." Pause. "I don't think he's coming back."

Laura tilted her head. "Where is he now?"

"I don't know." Cessily paused. "He did say Frost helped—"

"Thank you." Laura headed back down the hall.

A few moments later, she heard Cessily snaking along after her. "Wait! Where're you—what's happening?! Ohmygod, are you going to go find him? _You are, aren't you?!_ " The last part of this series of questions was rather high pitched.

"Yes." Laura knocked on Frost's door.

"Oh wow!" Cessily covered her mouth. "You do know he—"

"Come in." Frost.

Laura opened her door, leaned in. "Where is Julian?"

Frost raised an eyebrow. "He asked me not to tell anyone."

"Oh come _on!"_ Cessily argued. "He'll want to see Laura. _Guaranteed_."

The headmistress pursed her lips. "I am sorry. But he was quite clear about his request. He is starting a new chapter of his life and does not wish to be disturbed."

Laura looked down. "Thank you." She closed Frost's door again and thought for a moment.

"We could get Hope to hack her computer when she's sleeping." Cessily paused. "Or we could try Ruth. Ruth knows things." She winced. "That cooould be a little confusing…but it's worth a shot, right? Or maybe he told Santo. Wait, no, that's stupid, he knows Santo can't keep a secret from me to save his life. Okay, maybe—"

The door opened again. Frost looked out at the girls. "Please do not discuss your plans to openly defy Julian's wishes outside my door." Her voice was flat.

Cessily folded her arms. " _What?_ We're his _friends._ He'd be hurt if we _didn't_ defy his bullshit 'wishes'."

Frost closed her eyes, shook her head slightly, then shut her door again.

"You're going to tell him, right?" Cessily paused. "Everything? How you feel? Like, why you broke up with him, and all that?"

Laura frowned. "Yes."

Cessily hesitated. "You do know about Nori—"

Laura flinched slightly. "Yes." Pause. "I…saw them."

"Oh, wow." Cessily grimaced. "You know you can't be angry at him, right? Like, I know it must have hurt, but—"

"Yes." Laura looked at the door.

Frost opened it a moment later and held out a piece of paper. "This is his address." She paused. "Please, do not make me regret giving this to you." Pause. "And…do not let him know my involvement."

"No problem." Cessily smiled sweetly at her, took the paper, then gave it to Laura. "Come on! Let's go see what Megan is up to these days."

Laura examined the address, her eyebrows drawing together. The University of California campus. That was on the other side of the country. "Yes."

* * *

 _WOOSH!_

Megan fluttered her wings excitedly. "This is the place!" Pause. "I think. Wait, let's see the address again."

"No, this is it." Cessily pointed up at the top row of apartments, which were lit with porch lights "There! He lives up there!"

Laura gazed up at the door. It shared a long front porch with the other apartments on the same level and was unremarkable. Except for the fact that the number on the door matched the number written on the piece of paper. This made it remarkable. Her eyebrows drew together.

"This _is_ just like a movie!" Megan whispered, clasping her hands together. "I can't wait to watch!"

Cessily hesitated. "Uh…" she glanced at Laura. "I think, actually, we should go."

"WHAT?!" Megan glared at her. "I brought you all the way to California because you promised I would be helping reunite two star-crossed—"

"Shhhh!" Cessily glared at her. "First of all, I _know_ about all the soul-sword stuff, but the act of teleporting literally takes nill effort from you. You, like, say a bunch of magic words and it happens. Second of all, you _are_ doing that _,_ but I don't think it's going to happen if we're watching, y'know?" She paused. "Third… _shopping._ "

Megan paused, obviously wrestling with the offer. "Oh, _fine._ I _guess_. Ugh. Well, good luck, Laura…we'll come check on you in a bit then." Pause. " _Sihal Novarum Chinoth!_ "

Laura was left alone. She looked up at his door again, then began to climb the stairs, trying to ignore the rapid increase in her heart rate, the way her hands had begun to shake. She could detect his scent. He had been here recently. Now she was at his door. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then knocked.

A few moments passed. She could hear as he approached the door. Then…nothing.

He was choosing not to answer.

She had not anticipated this. She stood in place, her forehead wrinkling. Of all the reactions she had expected, this was not among them. He had wanted to talk to her, before. What had changed? Nori? But he had not stayed with her. After about three minutes, she walked back down the porch, her eyebrows drawn together. Would this simply never be resolved, then? She bit her lip.

Then she heard the door open. She had reached the top of the stairs, but she stopped and turned around.

"What're you doing here?" Julian was stepping out of his apartment. Physically, he looked the same as when she had last seen him, but something was different. His eyes were narrowed, and his tone was sharp. "I told Frost, I'm _done_ with the team. All of it." Perhaps it was the anger. He seemed very displeased to see her.

She hesitated. "I have also…quit."

He paused. "Why the hell are you here then?"

She looked down, then up again. "I would like to talk."

"Yeah, well, it's too late for that." His nose wrinkled. "I don't care anymore. I don't want to talk. You had your chance, and I moved on." He paused. "Nothing for you here."

Laura gazed at him for a moment. "You are lying."

Julian bristled. "What? No I'm not. I've been on dates."

"Something in your statement was untrue." She took several steps toward him. "Your heart rate is elevated. Your pupils are constricted, even though it is dark out."

"That's…" He closed his eyes. "I'm just angry."

"No. I do not detect adrenaline in your scent." Which was a lie, because there was adrenaline, but she needed to make a clear point. She took another step forward, so she was standing in front of him. "Furthermore, you are releasing a chemical I associate with deception."

"God damn it!" Julian glared at her, smoke rising into the air around him. "Two minutes of talking to you and…just _no._ You don't get to tell me how I feel. I—"

Laura leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, closing her eyes, trying to focus past her own rising vital signs. It was difficult, since she knew if she failed now, there would most likely be no opportunity for a second attempt. The urgency seemed to make her vital signs react even more.

Julian pushed her back gently, his hands on her shoulders. His eyebrows were drawn together, but now he looked a little less angry. More confused. "What...what're you doing?"

"I believe you still care. For me." Laura hesitated. "I want to talk."

"…" He shook his head slightly, closed his eyes. "Yeah but…you can't just…you know. Kiss me. I'm angry at you." His heart was beating faster.

Laura shrugged. "You did not stop me."

Julian gazed at her. "I hate you sometimes."

"But not all the time." She paused. "When can we talk?"

"I…" He folded his arms, his eyebrows drawing together. "Laura, you treated me like shit…now you just show up out of the blue after a month of no contact…you didn't even come see me when I was hurt…you brought this all on yourself, you know."

Laura nodded. "Yes."

He shook his head. "I don't know if I can forgive you. Okay?"

"Okay." Laura studied him. "When can we talk?"

Julian sighed, shifted. "I'm busy. I have things I need to do tonight." He paused.  
"What's your number?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I do not have one."

He gave her a flat look. "Of course you don't."

Laura said nothing.

He closed his eyes, shook his head again. "God damn you. Fine. Friday. Three o' clock. I'll meet you at the coffee shop on campus. I have an hour between classes." Pause. "And that's _it._ No promises. You hurt me and I'm not letting you ever do that again." His voice was sharp, and he glared at her. "I've had enough of that."

Laura gazed at him. Her vital signs began to slow, to ease. Somehow, it did not matter that he was angry at her. "Okay." She hesitated. "It is…good to see you."

"Bye." He turned and headed back to his apartment, shoving his metal hands in the pockets of his jeans, his shoulders held stiffly.

Laura said nothing, but she watched him go, her forehead wrinkled.

* * *

"WHAT DID HE SAY?!" Cessily demanded. "Tell me EVERYTHING."

Laura, Cessily, and Megan were now sitting in a diner, working on their plates between commentary. The former had ordered a burger, while the latter two had ordered salads.

"I told you." Laura tilted her head. "He did not want to talk right now. He said he was busy." She had already repeated the conversation for the others, verbatim.

"Yeah but— _how_ did he say it?" Cessily paused. "Was he casual? Angry? What? This is really important."

Laura thought. "He was angry." She paused. "He would not open the door, at first."

"HAH!" Cessily seemed pleased. "Good."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Good?"

"It means he still has feelings for you." Cessily grinned. "If Julian gets casual about anything, it means he's over it."

"Oh." Laura's forehead wrinkled. She had already surmised that he still cared for her, but it was reassuring to hear Cessily come to the same conclusion.

Cessily leaned back in her booth seat. "He must be testing how much you really want to see him. That's why he wouldn't talk tonight."

Laura shook her head. "He said he was busy."

Cessily wrinkled her nose. "That's _bullshit._ He'd make time. No, this is just a test. He wants to make you sweat."

"Oh." Laura frowned. "Okay."

"I think the kiss was a good move." Megan waved her fork in the air, dropping a piece of lettuce on the table. "Remind him of what he's missing, and all that, right?"

"Definitely." Cessily paused. "You probably could have kept going, and there's no way he would have stopped you."

"Oh." Laura frowned. "Should I return to his apartment?"

Cessily blinked. "Nah. I think the one was good." Then she grinned. "Let him stew for a while. You don't want him to have regrets later." She pretended to load up her fork as the waiter approached their table and asked about their meals.

Laura nodded to the waiter, then turned her gaze to the window. Before this, she had thought social behavior was very complicated and confusing. Now she realized she would quite possible never master all the cues this interaction was layered with. Was she truly prepared to speak with him? Then she shook her head slightly. She had to make an attempt.

Friday at three o' clock. That was five days from now. She bit her lip slightly.

* * *

Back in his apartment, Julian stared at the ceiling. His thoughts were swirling.

He had just settled into a rhythm out here. Classes. Homework. Laundry day. Booze day, which was his favorite. The stress of the past few years was still there. He was still waiting for the next shoe to drop, waiting for everything to go to hell, waiting to get pulled into some crazy situation. Trying to reconcile himself with the fact that he didn't need to be constantly aware of the minds around himself. Trying to tell himself that there were no targets anymore. But he had finally begun to feel like that all that might get a little better with time. A little easier.

The sharp aching feeling the whole mess with Laura had caused was still there, too, but he'd found the distraction of his new surroundings helped. He hadn't tried to force himself to move on, because he knew, from his experience with Nori, that it would turn out poorly. But a few weekends ago, he met someone on booze day. She had seemed fun, and attractive, and he knew he couldn't say no forever. They'd gone out a couple of times now, not serious, once with other people, but all the same he'd felt good about it. Positive. A little hopeful.

And now Laura had shown up on his front porch and blew it all up in his face, like she always did. Like dynamite. In just a few minutes. For most of them, they hadn't even been talking, because he hadn't opened the door. Why had he? He gritted his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut.

He missed her. He missed the girls, who he had called a few times, but not lately, since he had thought Laura wanted him gone from their lives entirely. Now she said that wasn't the case. But he was afraid. What if she changed her mind again? Destroyed all the peace he had managed to find in the past month? _No,_ he promised himself. He wouldn't fall for it again. No more. Not unless there was some incredibly satisfying explanation for the hell she had put him through, which was unlikely.

Friday at three o' clock. That was five days from now. He bit his lip slightly. Why had he set it so far out?


	34. Chapter 34 - Friday at 3:00

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Awww, thanks for all the reviews! So glad y'all are enjoying. Readers have told me (and I may or may not have read it, but that''s beside the point) that there's a Laura/Julian nod in All New Wolverine #33. I almost typed what it was here before I remembered that spoilers are a thing and not everyone likes them. My opinion is it was a solid nod, but it's still a nod. I'm afraid fan fiction is the only real Helix that is available at the moment. Anyways, hope y'all continue to enjoy. And just a note, the story does not conclude with this chapter, in case anyone is wondering...lots to come :)

* * *

CHAPTER 34

 _Friday at 3:00_

* * *

The clones were already sleeping when Laura returned, so she restrained herself from waking them, instead stretching out on her bed and closing her eyes. She thought she would not be able to sleep, but the next thing she knew, she was being jumped on.

"X-23 HAS RETURNED! I DETECT JULIAN'S SCENT, SHE HAS ENCOUNTERED HIM! HE IS ALIVE!"

"Quiet Betty, she is SLEEPING! We must NOT disturb her, we can perform the interrogation later!"

"WHAT ARE THOSE STRANGE THINGS?"

"ALICE! Stop SHOUTING!"

"I am _sorry!_ Should I—"

Laura sat up, rubbing one eye, her eyebrows drawn together. "Stop moving."

The three clones stopped bouncing almost immediately, sitting down around her.

Betty frowned. "Weapon X said—"

"Logan." Laura corrected.

"Logan." Betty paused. "Logan said that you were in Japan. Is your mission complete?"

"No." Laura reached up, corrected an errant strand of the clone's hair. "I abandoned the mission."

Three loud gasps.

"X-23, you must—" Gabby began, sounding nervous.

Laura shook her head. "I am not X-23 anymore. You should call me Laura."

The clones exchanged glances.

"I am no longer what the facility made me." Her eyebrows drew together. "Just as you are no longer what the facility intended _you_ to be."

"It seems wrong." Alice whispered this.

"We must do as X—as Laura says." Gabby raised her chin. "As always."

"Yes." Laura smiled slightly.

"Is Julian alive?" Betty blurted this. "We have not heard from him in over a month." Her eyes were wide with concern.

"Did he cease visiting because he was displeased with us?" Alice added.

Gabby said nothing, obviously trying to act as if the answers did not matter to her, but she glanced at Laura.

Her forehead wrinkled. She felt a pang of regret, that she had not realized her own actions would affect the clones in this manner. "He is alive." She paused. "No. He left…because he was displeased with me."

"You should try harder to please him." Betty's voice was sharp.

" _Betty!"_ Gabby glared at her sister. "You cannot criticize X—Laura. Self-punishment is recommended, level—"

"Will he be back?" Betty had ignored her.

Laura hesitated. "I do not know. But…I will try." She stroked Betty's hair again, the way her mother used to do to her. "I promise."

"I apologize for interrupting the conversation, but what are those strange artificial creatures?" Alice pulled at Laura's sleeve. "They smell of polyester."

Laura smiled, then reached back on the bed and dragged the bag of stuffed animals toward her. "I have brought things for you, from Japan." She pulled out a purple octopus with a top hat and a monocle, which was quickly taken by Alice, and a fuchsia dragon, claimed by Betty, and finally a green elephant, which Gabby selected, after her sisters had chosen.

"I did not…use such things when I was your age." Laura looked at the empty bag in her hands. "I would like you three to have the opportunities that I did not."

The clones gazed at her curiously.

"I am going to speak with Logan now." Laura slipped off the edge of the bed. "Please come with me. We will eat pancakes after."

The obedience was immediate. She listened as the clones began to debate which type of pancake was there favorite. Apparently, they had consumed many different servings at this point, but could not decide between blueberry or chocolate chip.

* * *

"Hey kid." Logan seemed surprised to see Laura at his door, even though he must have sensed her and the clones coming down the hall.

Laura raised her eyebrow. She could detect that Domino had visited the room recently. But she did not think it was necessary to address this. "Hello."

"Cyke said you came back early." He paused. "Said you quit the team, too. That true?"

Laura looked down for a moment. "Yes. I am sorry."

"Kid. I was disappointed when you joined in the first place." Logan reached over and patted her shoulder. "Proud that you finally came to your senses. This team ain't for you." He paused. "Now if I can only get rid of Elixir and Warpath. Maybe you could talk to them for me. Then I could have a team of goddamn adults for once."

Laura said nothing, but she smiled, very slightly.

"You seen Keller lately?"

She nodded.

"Good." Logan paused. "Don't want to get involved…take sides an' all that shit…but I always figured you kids would work things out."

"We are…still talking." Laura hesitated. "He is angry at me. I do not know if…if he will want to resume our relationship."

"Don't think you need to worry about that." Logan frowned. "Just be straight with him. He can be annoyin' sometimes, but he's not a bad kid when all's said an' done."

Laura raised her eyebrows. "You told me that he was a 'punk'."

"Huh?" Logan looked confused.

"When you first introduced us." She paused. "You also requested for me to make his life 'suck.'"

"Got a memory like a goddamn elephant, don't you?" He chuckled. "Tell Keller I wish him luck with that."

"Okay."

Alice tugged at Logan's pantleg. "Weapon X, are you aware that there was a female in your room?"

Logan paused. "Yep." He glanced at the octopus in her arms. "Interestin' critter you got there. He have a name?"

Alice shook her head. "Should it?"

"Looks mighty fancy. Probably." Logan paused. "You girls eaten yet?"

A chorus of "no."

"How 'bout some IHOP for my favorite clones?"

"What is IHOP?" Alice inquired.

Logan grinned. "Stands for International House of Pancakes."

Loud, unintelligible screaming. Laura and Logan clapped their hands over their ears, wincing. The latter had clearly not expected such an enthusiastic response. Finally, the screams gave way to questions.

"There is an entire _house_ designated _entirely_ for _pancakes_?!" Betty.

"How have we not heard of this?!" Gabby.

"Do pancakes actually _live_ there?!" Alice. "Can we eat them? Or only visit?"

"…" Laura looked at Logan. "I believe that restaurant will be acceptable."

"I ain't really got a chance to meet Sarah yet. Said hi to her once, but I've been on five missions since you left." He raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you could invite her too?"

Laura nodded.

* * *

"So." Logan was leaning back in the booth, his eyes narrowed as he studied Sarah. " _You're_ the person to thank for all these clones?"

The girls were currently silent, stuffing their faces with the large stacks of pancakes they had ordered. Laura had wiped Betty's cheeks with a napkin multiple times now.

"I guess so." Sarah paused. "I had no idea there would ever be so many. I was only directly involved in creating Laura."

Laura gazed at her mother. "I was made from a damaged sample of blood, correct?"

Sarah nodded. "You're not an identical clone. I had to…improvise…a substantial amount of the missing genes." She paused. "You are more akin to Weap—to Logan's sister."

"Think I knew that." Logan paused. "You use your own DNA?"

"Yes." Sarah paused. "As an occasional template, for filling in the less crucial genes. For the important specimens, I rebuilt the missing strands…improved upon them…enhanced your traits, whenever possible."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessin' intelligence is one of them."

Sarah hesitated. "Yes."

Laura smiled slightly.

Betty picked up the bottle of syrup and proceeded to pour it onto her stack of pancakes. Without stopping. _Glug, glug_ went the bottle as it began to empty. The table stared at her.

Laura's smile faded, and she seized the bottle. "What—why were you doing that?"

Betty gave her a challenging look. "You did not specify that I should not."

"…" Laura's forehead wrinkled. "I cannot possibly specify all the things you should not do."

Betty shrugged. "You should try harder."

 _Plop._ A pancake fell off Alice's fork and onto the table in front of her octopus. "Walter is hungry." She explained this in a whisper.

"Alice, do not put food outside the confines of your plate." Laura looked at Betty. "Do not speak to me in that manner."

"Yes, you should both self-punish." Gabby glanced at Laura. "Level 2?"

Betty and Alice froze, their overfilled cheeks bulging. A small amount of syrup squirted out of Alice's mouth.

"No. No self-punishment. We have discussed this." Laura frowned. "You should behave because I have said to do so. I am issuing orders in your best interest."

"It's normal for them to challenge you." Sarah paused. "Or so Debbie told me. She was always a bit feisty herself."

Logan raised his eyebrows. "Where you from?"

"San Francisco." Sarah frowned. "I left there as soon as I could. But I believe my mother…" she glanced at Laura. "Your grandmother still lives there. She's in her seventies now."

Laura said nothing, but her eyebrows drew together slightly.

"Huh." Logan paused. "Could be interestin' for you." He looked at Sarah again. "How'd you get into genetics?"

Sarah hesitated. "I…I wanted to make the world a better place." She looked out the window. "I thought I would work on eliminating diseases, gene therapy…that sort of research."

"An' now I hear you're helpin' Hank with his research. Tryin' to undo M-day."

"Yes, but it's unlikely." Sarah frowned. "Wanda Maximoff modified the probability that an individual will or will not have the mutant gene. Even if we find a way to tamper with that probability, it will only affect future generations. I don't believe there is a way to restore lost genes." She paused, smiled slightly. "I never thought I'd have to figure out the effect of magic on biology."

"I never thought I'd be sitting with a table full of my clones, but there we go." Logan glanced at Laura. "Guess life's just strange, huh?"

Laura nodded. "Yes."

Alice tugged at Logan's sleeve. "Excuse me, Weap—Logan—I have a question."

He looked down. "What is it, darlin'?"

"Why does the sugar taste so bad?"

Pause. Logan glanced at Laura, then back at Alice. "What sugar?"

She opened her mouth to reveal three unopened packets.

Laura closed her eyes. "Alice, spit them out. You should open them first."

"Like a banana." Sarah offered this.

"What is a banana?" Gabby inquired.

"Gabby, I _dare_ you to consume that beverage immediately!" Betty shouted without warning. "I dare you with _duplicate canines_! You will look stupid if you do not!"

Gabby's eyes bulged, but she seized Logan's milkshake and chugged it, holding the almost-full glass vertical so it spilled onto her face. Then she slammed it back down on the table, her eyes watering. "MY BRAIN IS DYING!" she squeaked, a few moments later.

Betty grinned smugly.

Laura closed her eyes again, her nostrils flaring, her fingers curling into a fist on the table. "Bad clones. _Bad._ "

"It's okay, kid." Logan reached out and patted her hand. "I'll get another one. Let 'em have their fun." Pause. "Can tell you now though…that one's goin' to take shots like a champ."

Laura nodded faintly.

* * *

The rest of the week passed slowly. On Monday, Cessily dragged Laura and her clones to the rec room and put _Lost_ on the television. Santo soon joined them and engaged in discussions about the characters.

Laura tried to concentrate on the program but found it difficult. She kept remembering the anger in Julian's eyes. It was easy to extrapolate, to imagine him finding her explanation insufficient. To imagine him telling her that it was truly too late.

She suspected he would not withhold his friendship, that he would offer this to her again, after her explanation. But while she valued his friendship, she knew she would not be satisfied. This was not what she wanted from him. She hugged a pillow to her stomach, gazing at the screen and fighting a sensation she had never experienced about a non-combat scenario before: anxiety. What would she do if he had truly ceased to care for her in this way? If he no longer reciprocated her feelings? She tried reminding herself that she had detected physical evidence suggesting otherwise, but it did not make the anxiety go away. It was frustrating, how illogical emotional situations seemed to be.

On Tuesday, she assisted with a small mission, with Frost and Rogue, involving a ring of the X-gene enhancing drug "Kick." She did not participate in much action, as Frost was easily able to negate most of the dealers with her mental powers. They discovered that the ring was linked to associates of Magneto's, who was previously thought to be dead. The excursion served as a good distraction, but when she returned later that evening, after tucking in her clones and reading them three bedtime stories, almost forgetting to add the disclaimer, she found she could not sleep in her empty bed again. Instead, she spent the evening outside, under her usual tree. It seemed that the closer the meeting drew, the more anxious she became. The comfort her claws offered was negligible.

On Wednesday, the weather was nice, a sunny fall day, so she and Cessily took the clones outside for what was apparently called a "picnic." Again, Santo joined them, enthusiastically providing a stack of sandwiches and trying to strike up a conversation with Cessily about _Lost_.

"So, you think Ben's goin' double agent?"

"I don't know." Cessily wrinkled her nose. "He reminds me of Vanisher, actually…so probably."

"Speakin' of Vanisher, you hear he tried to get Sooraya to join his harem?"

Cessily's eyes bulged. " _What?_ Are you for real?"

"Yep." Santo grinned. "Heard she yelled at him an' slammed a door in his face. I mean…you ever even heard of Sooraya even gettin' _mad_ before?"

"I don't blame her. He's such a piece of crap." Cessily glanced at Laura. "You think so, right?"

"I do not know." Laura paused. She knew Cessily was asking if she disliked her former teammate. "He has endangered our lives many times. But…he has also saved our lives." Her eyebrows drew together. "Perhaps he will change."

"Ugh. I hope he doesn't so we can just kick him out for once and for all." Cessily shook her head. "Let's not talk about him anymore. This is too nice a day to taint it with that kind of stuff."

Santo nodded. "Too bad Jules ain't here."

"Yeah." Cessily glanced at Laura. "You figured out what you're going to say on Friday?"

"The truth." Laura paused, turned her head and saw that Alice was holding up a finger she had found in the grass. "…"

"May I keep it?" Alice asked.

"Must be leftover from the zombie attack." Santo paused. "Gross."

"No." Laura pointed to the rose bushes. "Take it to the soil and bury it."

Cessily's forehead wrinkled. "What if the police find it someday?"

"Dude, lot else here they'd ask questions about first." Santo grinned.

"Can we have a funeral for it?" Betty asked.

"Like on _Lost_?" Gabby added.

Laura raised an eyebrow. She wondered what other influences the show was having on her clones. She would need to examine it more closely at some point.

"Absolutely." Cessily rose to her knees. "But you'll have to sing. Do you know how?"

"I do. Mr. Bert taught me." Alice paused. "I shall instruct the others."

Laura, Cessily, and Santo watched as the clones performed the funeral, a confusing ritual filled with a brief fight about the proper resting place resulting in eight different holes being dug, off-key renditions of a Frank Sinatra song, and a segment in which the clones forced each other to cry with poorly concealed claw pricks. Santo seemed to find the event very amusing and snickered quietly to himself for hours afterward.

On Thursday, Laura decided that physical activities would help her combat her growing anxiety, so she fed her clones and asked Cessily to watch them, then engaged in a grueling series of exercises in the danger room, after which she wandered aimlessly around the school, trying to find something else to occupy her attention. She found herself at Julian's old door, sliding her claw through the lock. The room looked strange without his personal effects, but she could smell his faint scent. And that was comforting. She laid on the bed and mentally practiced what she would say until she dozed off.

Finally, Friday dawned. Laura was up with the sun, but this left hours to be filled. She woke her clones, who Cessily had apparently assisted with their bedtime routine, and prepared them a meal of cereal and milk. Then she left them with Sarah, who had suggested that she could take them out for the day, for excursions such as the library and the park. She spent twenty minutes discussing terms with the clones first, specifying things that they could and could not do, with the ultimate clause that they would obey Sarah absolutely. Betty, the clone she was most concerned with, agreed readily, perhaps viewing the activities to be far too exciting to risk having them cancelled.

Laura then found Megan and requested a teleport, even though the meeting was still several hours away. She did not want to risk that she would be busy helping the X-men and unable to assist her later.

The situation was made worse when, after her arrival, she looked at a clock tower and was briefly confused that it was ten o' clock. Then she remembered there was a three-hour time zone difference between New York and California. She took a bus to the harbor and sat on the docks, gazing out at the water and remembering the last time she had done this. Several years ago. Logan had called her, requesting that she return to the school, and she had flung her phone into the water, unwilling to subject herself to the experience again. Laura's eyebrows drew together as she thought of the changes that had happened since. Did she regret that decision, to return and try again? No, she decided. Despite the situations that had arose as a result, she did not.

After a while, she visited a bakery, purchased a pastry and wandered around the streets, peering in windows and observing others as they went about their day. She found herself wondering what it would be like to have a life free of the facility's influence. A life without confusing situations such as this.

* * *

Julian found himself trapped in a self-imposed period of limbo. His concentration in class suffered, since he spent the nights staring at his ceiling, unable to sleep. On Tuesday, he smashed a bottle of acid in a lab and had to briefly shield himself so he wouldn't burn his skin off. He was still frustrated about this, since he had been working so hard not to use his powers lately. Most of his homework time he spent tapping his pencil against the paper, trying to imagine what the hell Laura was going to say to explain what had happened between them.

He had at first figured that she had simply wanted to see who else was out there. Like Logan had suggested. But there was something wrong with that explanation. Mostly the fact that, besides the kiss at the club, he doubted she had been with anyone else. He hadn't asked around about her, or followed her, or anything like that, but he knew that she slept outside under the tree, alone. He had a clear view of it from the window of his old room. She might have been seeing other guys during the day, but that didn't seem likely.

Amid the thoughts about Laura and the three exams he had that week, he forgot laundry day entirely and ended up trying to cram for his last and most difficult test while at the laundromat. When he nodded off into his binder and it fell off his lap, he started awake and released a wave of energy that caused three nearby bottles of detergent to explode. He'd had to use his powers again, both to erase the recent memories of the laundromat operators and fellow customers, and to clean the detergent off the floor, a task that was almost impossible even _with_ his powers. To top it off, he slipped on a spot of soap he'd missed, on his way out of the laundromat, and his clothes tumbled all over the ground, the time he'd spent folding them completely wasted.

By the time Friday finally rolled around, he was in the worst mood possible, and regretting the fact that he'd scheduled the meeting an hour before his test. Which was going to go really, really badly now. But he didn't want to put off the talk any longer. The week had already been difficult enough. So he decided to just suck it up and sleep like a log on the weekend.

He was beginning to think three o' clock would never arrive.

* * *

Laura entered the coffee shop, her heart pounding. She had detected Julian's scent near the door. Fresh. Meaning he was already there, waiting for her. Had he left already?

No. He was sitting at a table, drumming his metal fingers on the surface, glancing at the nearby window, his eyebrows drawn together. He seemed tense.

Laura approached him, her own eyebrows drawing together. "Hi."

He started, looked at her. "What took you so long?"

"You said 3:00." She frowned, sliding into the seat across from him. "Am I too late?"

He paused for a few moments, glanced at the clock on the wall, which said 2:55. "No."

"Okay."

"Okay." He paused. "What do you want to drink?"

Laura frowned. "I—nothing."

"It's a business. We have to get _something_." He slipped out of his seat and headed to the waiting line, his shoulders stiff like the last time she had seen him. He was still angry.

Laura watched him go, her eyes half lidded. Then she closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing. Only a little longer.

Finally, she heard his footsteps as he returned. She looked at him as he put down two cups on the table and slid back into his seat. "Here." He slid one cup over to her. Then he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "So? You have something to say to me?" His voice was sharp. "Right? Start talking."

Laura closed her eyes, took a breath. Her lips parted, but no sound escaped her.

Silence.

"Remember…you're the one who approached _me_." His lip curled. "I accepted things as they were. I was moving on—"

"I…" Laura's eyebrows drew together. "This was a mistake."

Julian made a soft noise, of disbelief. "Fine. Thanks for wasting my time." He got up and began to brush past her.

Laura caught his wrist and shook her head as she looked up at him. "No…I...sit down."

He glared at her. "You just said this was a mistake."

"Yes _._ " Laura bit her lip. "All of this. My mistake."

Pause. Julian studied her for a moment, his eyes narrowing. But then he sat down again. "What do you mean? Explain. You have _one_ more chance, then I'm leaving. For real."

Laura lowered her gaze. She decided to start with small words. Facts."I was…I kill." She paused. "I destroy."

Silence.

She raised her eyes again. "You have changed."

He raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"You were…against my methods, before." Laura paused. "Now…you kill. You destroy. You are like me." Pause. "And I am not good."

"…" Julian stared at her. "Are you saying I'm not _good enough_ for you?"

Laura gazed back at him. For a moment, she felt irritated. He did not understand her. "No. I am saying…" She closed her eyes. " _I_ made you this way. I damaged you."

Silence. She peered at him again.

He was still staring at her. She could not tell if he comprehended.

Laura thought for a moment. "I terminated our…association…so the damage would cease. So I would not harm you any longer. But…you did not regenerate. And—"

"Wait, _what?_ " Julian's forehead was wrinkled again. "Regenerating? Harm? _Damaged?_ This—do you mean—you think you're _bad_ for me?"

Laura paused. "In summary, yes."

"…" Julian squeezed his eyes shut, a few green flames licking in the air beside him. After a moment, he spoke. "What made you think you got to decide that for me?"

She hesitated. "Because it was the logical—"

" _No._ " Julian glared at her. "No, Laura. You…you just…that wasn't your choice to make. You don't get to decide what's good and bad for me. I was—I wanted to be _equals_ , not—"

"Yes, but—"

"Don't interrupt me!" He squeezed his eyes shut again, took a few deeper breaths. His heart rate had increased sharply, and he was producing a high volume of adrenaline. And a few green flames had ignited in the air around him.

Laura looked at the table top, her eyebrows drawing together. She remained silent.

"You were the only _good_ thing in my life." Julian gritted his teeth. "And then you just…decided to take yourself away. You wouldn't even _tell me_ why."

She hesitated.

"You didn't even try!" He glared at her. "What, I'm not worth the effort?"

Laura gazed at him, her forehead wrinkled.

"What am I to you? Huh?" Julian leaned forward, his eyes flashing green. "Because you treated me like _garbage—"_

There was a bright flash of white light.

For a moment, Laura was tumbling forward. Then she landed. In…a pile of…garbage? For a moment, she thought she was back in the future. She scrambled into a sitting position and looked around, her eyebrows drawing together. "Julian?"

Groaning. From nearby. She struggled upwards, almost slipping as she stepped in a puddle of something gooey, then she succeeded and began to wade through the debris.

He was lying on his back, behind a mound of what looked like discarded electronics.

"…" Laura stared at him. "What did you do? Where have you taken us?"

"What the—" Julian glared back up at her. " _It wasn't me!"_

"Your eyes were glowing. And there was a flash of light." Her nose wrinkled. " _And_ you said the word 'garbage' a few moments before."

Julian closed his eyes. "I. Didn't. Fucking. Bring us. Here."

Laura did not detect a lie. Which meant that he truly had not brought them here, or he had and was unaware of it. Either way, it had not been intentional. "Can you stand?"

He sighed, then got to his feet, brushing his clothes off with a look of disgust. Then he glared at her again. "My life was almost normal until _you_ showed up."

Laura closed her eyes. "Are you capable of returning us to the coffee shop?"

"No." He paused. "I'm not a teleporter, remember? You should know that by now, considering all your brain is filled with is tactics."

She said nothing.

Julian looked away. "Besides…something's dampening my powers. I tried to shield myself when I was falling, and nothing. Feels like Pierce's cell…remember?"

"Yes." Laura glanced at him. She remembered that night well. The night they had found Sooraya. Shortly before she had ended their relationship.

Julian glanced up at the sky, which seemed to be tinged purple. "This another planet or…?"

"No, the air tastes metallic." Laura paused. "Recycled. I believe we are surrounded by large metal walls."

"Huh." Julian looked at her. "Why is this dampening thing only working on me?"

Laura shrugged, then began to walk.

He followed her. "Where are you going?"

Laura raised her eyebrows. "To find a way back to the coffee shop." She did not want to talk here, where they would likely be distracted by whatever attack was inevitably coming.

"Fine with me." His tone was harsh.

They walked in silence for a while, zig-zagging through large piles of decomposing and decomposed organic trash, and metallic objects, a strange mixture. Yet it did not smell bad. Not in the way that the ancient trash in the future had been too old to smell, but in a way that suggested excellent ventilation. She paused at several points to survey their surroundings, looking for familiarities to make sure they were not travelling in a circle. There were none. The place must be enormous.

Laura glanced at him again as they walked. His lip was curled, his shoulders were held stiffly, and his hands were balled into fists. She knew that she was failing in this interaction, and she looked down, her eyebrows drawing together. Her eyes burned, and then she stopped, gritting her teeth.

"What do you _want_ me to say?" she asked, her voice low and shaking.

Julian stopped as well, his eyebrows raising. "Are you crying?"

She glared at him. "No." She was not certain why she had attempted to deny this. A tear was quite clearly rolling down her cheek.

He gazed at her for a few moments, then folded his arms. " _Why_ didn't you _tell_ me about any of this?" Pause. "I mean, fine. You thought you were protecting me. It's—I'm pissed, but I _get_ that. I guess. But…why did you think it was up to you?"

Laura hesitated. "I knew…that you would not listen to me." Pause. "You have ignored my advice before."

"…" Julian closed his eyes, his lip curling again. "Kimura. Yeah. But…you can't just _do_ things like that when you're in a relationship. You're supposed to decide things together. And respect those decisions." He paused. "It's not always easy. After all the shit I went through to make sure you would be free to have a different life…you joined the team and went right back to killing." He looked at her again, his eyebrows drawing together. "But I forced myself to accept it, because that's what _you_ wanted, and I knew that was _your_ choice." He paused. "That you of all people would decide I didn't get a choice…" he trailed off, glaring at her.

Silence.

"I don't…I can't…" Julian shook his head, his nose wrinkled. "The past couple months have _sucked._ I thought…I thought everything would be different once I found you and got you out of there…I mean I figured, maybe you wouldn't feel the same way I did, and yeah it would hurt, but…this was so much worse. I felt _used._ I felt…like I wasn't even your _friend._ " He paused. "And now you try to tell me all this was for _my_ own _good?_ "

Laura looked down. "I did not say that." She paused. "I said that I made a mistake."

Julian shifted, considering this. "When did this all start? I…I need to know." He paused. "Tell me everything, right from the beginning. From when you started thinking you were…bad for me."

Laura hesitated for a moment. "I have always…thought I was…dangerous."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why'd you hook up with me in the first place, then?"

"No." She paused. "It was when Santo said—"

"Wait, what? Why is Santo involved?" Julian gave her an alarmed look, like Cessily had. "What—I'll _kill_ him if he—"

"Please be quiet, I am speaking." Her voice was firm, as if she were telling her clones to be silent.

He paused. "Continue."

"That day we were in the hallway, discussing our plans for Kimura." Laura closed her eyes. "Santo said that you had left the school and joined the team. After I was captured." She paused. " _Because_ I was captured."

"Uh…yeah?" Julian's forehead wrinkled. "How does this have to do with you deciding you were bad for me?"

Laura frowned, looked at him again. "When you were a part of the team…you changed." Pause. "You stopped caring for your friends…you were not enthusiastic…you were not happy." She hesitated. "Therefore…I thought that I did not make you happy."

Silence. He gazed at her.

"I should have…asked you." Laura closed her eyes again. "I regret what happened. I—"

"What made you think I wasn't happy?"

Laura hesitated again. Then Cessily's words came back to her _. If you want it to work between you guys, you have to straight up tell him what you think, or he'll fill in the blanks._ Her eyebrows drew together.

"Tell me." His voice was softer than before.

"The night we went to…to the club." Laura glanced up at him, saw that his lip was no longer curled. "I observed …I drew comparisons…and I concluded that you did not…not exhibit pleased behaviors in my presence."

"What? Who were you comparing me with?" He paused. "Oh god. Tell me it wasn't that asshole you kissed."

"No, it was yourself." She looked at him again. "You were more relaxed with the others than with me." She paused. "I observed James reacting to Hepzibah as well. I…did not make you react in…similar ways."

"Hepzibah?" Julian blinked. "Wait a minute. Are you serious? You honestly compared yourself to _Hepzibah?_ " He stared at her. "You're aware Hepzibah is an _alien skunk_ who is obsessed with _shiny objects_ , right? _Right?_ "

"Yes, but—"

"No, it's really important that you get this." He took her hands. Her skin began to warm, under his fingers. "Hepzibah is basically a joke. Of course she makes people laugh. Because she's weird as fuck. You're not. You're…you're smart, and beautiful, and…" he reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "I can't believe you thought I wasn't happy with you. I guess…I didn't do a great job of showing you how you made me feel."

"Made you feel." Laura eyed him. "Past tense. I do not…make you feel…now."

"You do." His eyebrows drew together, and he ran his thumb over her lower lip. "I'll never stop having feelings for you. I've tried…and I can't. I love you." He paused. "But."

She closed her eyes, trying to ignore the way her lip tingled.

"I can't keep doing this with you, either." His thumb stopped for a moment, then he lowered his hand. "You really, _really_ hurt me."

She looked at him again, nodded slightly.

"Yeah, I get that you thought you were keeping me safe. But I was fighting to keep _you_ safe. And then…you just…you stopped and…I didn't know what I was doing it for anymore." He looked down. "That sucked. I…I can't do that again."

Laura was silent.

He took her hands in his again. "Do you love me?" His voice was firm.

She hesitated. "Yes."

He closed his eyes, paused for a moment. "Say it."

Laura opened her mouth, but no words came.

He looked down at their hands, his forehead wrinkling. "I need you to say it. Out loud. I need you to prove that…that things are different." He paused. "That you won't keep being the girl in the cage."

"I…" Laura shifted, glanced up at him. "It means goodbye…I do not want to say it to you."

"I need to hear it. Once." Julian paused. "I'm not going anywhere."

Laura closed her eyes, nodded slightly. She _was_ afraid it would mean goodbye. But, if she did not say it, it would also be goodbye. "I…I love you." Her voice wavered slightly.

He was silent for a moment. "Okay."

"Okay?" She looked at him again, searching. What did he mean?

"I guess…I forgive you." He leaned forward. "But only if it's not like before. We need to both be in this. You can't cut me out of things again."

She shook her head.

"You need to learn to talk to me." Julian paused. "No more silence. This…this was a start, but you have to keep working at it. Or I'm done, for good. Okay?"

"Okay." Laura's eyebrows drew together. She turned their hands around, so she was holding his. "I want to change. To…to be real." She gave him a serious look. "No more missions. No more killing. For _either_ of us."

"Yeah." He nodded. "I think we're done with that."

"Okay." She glanced up at him, then reached up to run her fingers along his jaw, to see if she could. If he would let her. Her face warmed as he leaned closer. Yes, he would let her. The dark, heavy sensation was starting to lighten. As if it had never been. She closed her eyes with relief, feeling her muscles beginning to relax. There had been a moment that she had thought he would not—

There was a loud, horn-like sound. They both started and looked up to see that the purple atmosphere above them had faded, and beyond it was a metallic surface. A ceiling.

"Huh." Julian raised his eyebrows. "Looks like you were right."

"LAY DOWN ALL WEAPONS AND PREPARE FOR COLLECTION!"

They turned to see an enormous metal bubble sailing toward them, its pincer-like appendages snapping and slicing. Of which there were six.

"Is that—" Julian's forehead wrinkled. "Am I seeing this right? It looks like a big sky crab…"

"Yes." Laura made a fist. _Snkkt!_ Her heart rate increased. He did not have his powers. She was anxious that he would be harmed. It would be fitting for it to happen now. "Get behind me." Then she charged at the strange robot creature, her claws sinking into the chassis and tearing up curls of metal as she slid over the side.

A hatch opened, and a small, older-looking man popped his head out. "Stop! You're destroying everything!"

Laura impacted with the ground, then stared up at the man.

"You heard me!" The man paused. "Wait, are _those_ the adamantium?" He was looking at her claws.

"I…yes?" Laura got to her feet. "Who _are_ you?"

"Most know me as the Collector." He paused. "My true name is Taneleer Tivan. I am one of the Elders of the Universe."

"Glad we cleared that up." Julian's nose wrinkled. He had not gotten behind her. "My turn. Why the hell did you bring us here?"

"My scanners detected adamantium, and I am seeking a piece to add to my collection." The Collector looked at Laura. "Are you related to Wolverine, by any chance?"

Laura's forehead wrinkled. "I am his clone."

"Hmm. Interesting." The Collector paused. "Well, I won't keep you. I shall just extract the adamantium, then I'll dispose of your corpses. Just a moment." He flipped a switch on his pod, and a beam of light focused on Laura's claws, tugging her forward.

"Ahhhh!" She struggled against it but was losing.

Julian grabbed a handful of something metal and flung it at the Collector, hitting him in the head.

"Ow! Dammit!" The older man released the tractor beam switch as he rubbed his white hair and glared at him. Then he noticed his metal hands, and his eyebrows raised. "Are those… _celestial?!_ " Pause. "Celestial techno-organics? I _want._ "

"…" Julian closed his eyes. "Speaking of Hepzibah. I think we finally found someone who's crazier about shiny shit than she is."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "Yes."

The old man flipped his tractor beam on again, aiming it at Julian's hands this time. But it did nothing. They gazed at each other.

"I don't understand it." The Collector paused. "I've turned off all forms of energy projection in the processing area. You should be powerless to resist."

Julian raised his eyebrow, then reached up, grabbed one of the pod's appendages, and slammed it to the ground with a loud _crunch._

"WHAT!" the Collector shouted, outraged. He popped out of the wreck, surrounded by some sort of forcefield. "How dare you! _Give me your hands!_ "

"Sure." Julian made a fist and punched a large hole in the pod's now lifeless body. "Come and take them!" The metal ripped away under his knuckles, leaving a smoking hole.

The Collector's eyes narrowed. "You are damaging my _things._ " He pressed a button.

Suddenly, both Laura and Julian were being sucked out of the room by a massive force. Laura barely got a chance to take in the fact that she was floating in space before Julian grabbed her wrist. He was shielding them with a large green bubble. "I—I tried to catch some oxygen in this…can you breathe?"

A large amount of debris was floating around them. Old TV sets. Bicycles. Laptops. Spacesuits. Some unrecognizable objects, probably alien in origin.

"Yes." Laura glanced down at the planet a long way beneath them, a blue globe about the size of a dime. "Can you fly us home?"

Julian eyed the distance, then shook his head. "Hank's laughing. So no."

Laura paused. "Hank?"

"I'll explain later." He frowned. "I don't know how long the air is going to last in my shield…so I'm going to fly us back to the guy's ship-thing over there." He paused. "Whatever he does to us will be less bad than running out of oxygen."

"Okay." She studied the exterior of the Collector's transport. It was massive, with excellent cloaking technology. She could just barely detect its features with her sharp eyesight, even though they were right beside it. "To the left is the entrance. There is a forcefield…and a control box."

"On it." Julian smashed his fist into the box, and the field dropped. He carried her up the chute and into what looked like a control room, full of panels and windows. The chute sealed off behind them, and they immediately fell to the floor as his powers were dampened again.

"You again!" The Collector whirled around from where he was sitting, at a control panel. He seemed irritated to see them. "I evicted you from the ship. You should be dead. I was going to harvest your corpses shortly." He turned back to the control panel. "It would have been a quick and merciful death…efficient, and very little clean up…I do so hate it when skeletons pile up. I have way too many in my closets as is." He mumbled the last part, then pressed a button. "Oh well."

"Ugggh!" Julian grabbed his head. "…that…what the…" blood began to roll down from his ears, and he wilted to the floor.

"No!" Laura glared at the Collector. "What are you doing to him?!"

"I have found that telekinetics are vulnerable to energy pulses with the exact opposite frequency and wavelength as the energy they generate." The Collector paused. "If you want to save him, you will need to surrender your adamantium." His tone was cool and nonchalant, as if he were negotiating for trade goods.

"No…Laurrra…" Julian pounded his fist on the floor, denting it. _Blam! Blam!_ "Break…the…panel…"

 _Snkkt!_ Laura charged forward and jammed her claws into the said panel. Sparks flew everywhere, and the Collector let out a shriek of dismay. There was another bright flash of light. Then…

They were tumbling to their hands and knees on the asphalt in front of the coffee shop. Julian hung his head, shaking it slightly.

A moment passed. Laura reached out and touched his shoulder, concerned.

"…what the _fuck?_ " He looked up finally, his forehead wrinkled. "Did we just get hauled to a space dump by a senile alien? Did that actually just _happen?_ Or did I imagine it?"

Laura shook her head too. "No. That…that happened."

He closed his eyes. "I thought…I thought all the weird stuff would finally stop when I left the school."

"We are alive." Laura paused, then got to her feet, and offered him her hand.

He took it after a moment and hauled himself to his feet. "Yeah." He hesitated. "So…are you staying out here, or—"

 _BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!_

They looked up to see a bus driver glaring down impatiently at them, from the wheel of a double-decker bus.

Laura pulled Julian onto the side of the street. "No. I was here to talk to you."

"Oh." He frowned. "Shit, what time is it?" He looked down at his pocket, slipping his phone out with his mind. "Damn it, almost four. I need to run to class...I have an exam." He paused. "Which I'm totally going to fail, but whatever. I need to be there."

"Okay." She hesitated, smiled slightly. "It was…good to talk, finally."

He nodded, squeezed her hands, his eyebrows drawing together. "So when am I going to see you again? Can you come back for, like, dinner tomorrow?"

Laura nodded too. "I will meet you at your apartment."

"Okay." His nose wrinkled. "And get a phone."

"Okay." She reached up and wiped the sides of his head with her palms, her forehead wrinkled. "You were bleeding."

"Thanks." He paused, then leaned forward and kissed her, closing his eyes. Laura slid her hands around his neck, pressing her body against his, feeling a rush of tingling warmth spreading through her limbs. Then he was walking away, hurriedly, his hands in his pockets.

Laura pressed her fingers against her mouth, watching him go.


	35. Chapter 35 - Perform Another Date

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Awww thanks for all the reviews! I am so glad everyone seems to have enjoyed the reconciliation, I have been waiting to publish that chapter for months now. Some readers will notice the Collector plot was rehashing the "Babysitting" arc from the old X-23 series, during which Julian and Laura broke up. I decided to redo it as when they get back together :) yes very fangirlish of me. But, it also serves to introduce the Collector to the story. There will be more of him in the future. Anyways, to answer a few reviews:  
 _Canuck101_ , your fic idea does sound interesting! Perhaps Julian would be raising the clones alone? And Laura encounters them later?  
 _Delta808th:_ You've mentioned a roadtrip many times now. I haven't read the All New X-men comic but...noted. Perhaps a road trip will find its way into this story. There are certainly some situations coming up that offer such opportunities.  
All right, hope you all continue to enjoy! :D

* * *

CHAPTER 35  
 _Perform Another Date_

* * *

 _Woosh!_ As Megan and Laura reappeared in the main foyer of the school.

Cessily grabbed Laura by her shoulders, startling her. "How'd it go?! What's happening?! Tell me EVERYTHING, RIGHT NOW!"

Laura blinked. "Stop. We have talked. He has—"

"Did he get over himself?! Oh thank GOD, I was about to tell him to get his affairs in order coz I was coming down to kick his ass! DID YOU TELL HIM THE THING? Are you—"

"STOP!" Laura snapped.

Cessily paused, giving her a hurt look. "Laura…jeez, there's no need to _yell!"_

Laura closed her eyes. "Please. Allow me to finish."

Silence. Megan's wings fluttered.

"We are performing…going…on a date tomorrow eve—"

"OHMIGOD—"

" _Cessily!"_

"…sorry." Cessily grinned. "Actually, no, I'm not sorry. This is AMAZING! Okay, we have _so much_ to do and so little time. Like, I'm not joking, we shouldn't be wasting time on sentences. You have money, right?"

"What—" Laura's eyebrows drew together.

"Because you need like an outfit and we need to do something about your hair and oh my god we need to go to Sephora and like buy _everything_ and—"

"Stop." Laura's lip curled. "An outfit, perhaps. I do not wish to feel uncomfortable again." She recalled how she had felt on the first date, several years ago.

"But… _Sephora!"_ Cessily whined, then looked at Megan. "I don't care what she says _._ She is in dire need of _things_. Take us to the place of such things."

" _Sihal Novarum Chinoth!_ ""

* * *

Laura shook her head as Cessily held up a tight red tube on a hanger. "No."

"Oh come _on!_ " Cessily paused. "You'll look so perfect. You have to try this on."

"The outfit is entirely impractical for combat situations."

"You're not going to a combat situation, you're going on a date!"

"Our last date ended up with my being recaptured by the facility for two years." Laura paused. "I will not be caught unprepared again."

"She's got a point y'know." Megan blew a bubble with her gum.

"Grrr. You two are so annoying." Cessily paused, then grabbed a green tube and held it up to Laura. "Here."

"…" Laura's eyes narrowed. "No, that is only a different color."

"Gah! Fine! What about that one?" Cessily pointed to a black tube.

"I am leaving."

"Okay, okay! Jeez!" Cessily rolled her eyes and sighed. "Describe your ideal combat ready date outfit. And it _has_ to have a skirt, because I want it to."

Laura raised an eyebrow, then pointed to a leather skirt with slits on the side. "That will allow for a greater range of motion. The material is durable. And the color is not bright, if I require camouflage." She paused, then pointed to a matching leather corset, with a lace up front. "And that will offer sufficient…support."

"Never mind." Cessily grinned. "That's perfect."

Laura had not expected Cessily to agree with her so easily. The corners of her lips turned up slightly, but soon turned down again, as she learned exactly what "Sephora" involved.

* * *

The next evening, Laura slipped on her new outfit and texted Megan, using her newly acquired phone and the skills Cessily had taught her last night, in order to avoid said Cessily, who had announced the "preparations" for the date would take no less than two hours.

Megan teleported straight into her room, then took them both to the apartment complex with a _woosh!_

"Thank you." Laura paused, as her phone buzzed. She pulled it out to see that Cessily had sent five messages. She did not read them but was aware there were many exclamation marks. Shaking her head slightly, she turned the phone off and slipped it back into her jacket pocket.

Megan rolled her eyes and fluttered her wings. "Cessily _seriously_ needs to do something with her life. Like, more X-men stuff. Or go to school…or a job…or just _something_ y'know? She's got way too much free time."

Laura frowned. "Yes."

"Have fun!" Megan waved. " _Sihal Novarum Chinoth!_ "

Laura headed up the stairs, but the door to his apartment opened before she had reached the top.

Julian moved to the railing. "Hi."

"Hi."

His eyes flickered down her figure for a moment, and his eyebrows drew together.

Laura tilted her head. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "I, uh, made us a reservation. In town. It's, uh, a short walk."

She detected pheromones in his scent and smiled slightly. "Okay." She had left one important function of this outfit out of her description to Cessily, and she had just received confirmation that it was working as intended.

He pulled out a set of keys, locked the door, then joined her on the stairs. They regarded each other briefly before they began to walk, down the road from his apartment complex, and then along a small trail.

Julian broke the brief silence that had formed. "How are the girls?"

Laura considered this. "Physically well." She paused. "But I am concerned with their behavior."

"What?" He frowned. "What's going on?"

"They have begun exhibiting a behavior called 'daring'."

"Oh." He grinned. "That's normal."

"Perhaps." Laura's eyebrows drew together. "Sometimes, they dare each other to consume items."

His forehead wrinkled. "Like?"

"Leaves. Frogs. Socks. A book. Crayons." Laura paused. "Apparently, Alice bit Santo." She had been informed of this yesterday, when she had returned from the mall and had gone to reclaim her clones.

"…" Julian paused. "I take it back. That's not…that's not _as_ normal."

"No." She lowered her gaze.

He glanced at her. "But, I mean, at least they heal. They're okay, right?"

"Yes." She paused. "Their healing factors are growing stronger."

"Good." He hesitated. "And Logan?"

"He is still occupied with the team."

"I bet." Julian shook his head slightly. "So, what are you going to do? Now that you quit and all?"

She glanced at him. "I…have not considered this yet." She sensed he had hoped that she would say something else.

"Plenty of time." He led her down a path to a street full of shops. "I'd suggest getting away from the X-men though."

"Perhaps."

"Hungry?" His voice was a little louder. Again, he was displeased with her answer.

Food was not something she was really thinking about at the moment, but she understood she was supposed to indicate that she was, since that was the pretense of their meeting. "Yes."

They had reached the restaurant. He reached past her and opened the door. "After you."

The waitress seated them by the window. "Anything to drink?"

"Blue Moon."

"May I see your I.D. please?"

"Sure." Julian complied, barely glancing at the waitress as he did so.

Laura tilted her head. "Water."

"Really?" He asked after the waitress had left. "No drink?" He paused, seeing her confused look. "Booze, I mean?"

Laura closed her eyes. "Alcohol has no effect on me."

He grinned. "We'll have to test that out sometime."

"Perhaps."

They fell silent again. Laura glanced at him, and found that he was gazing at her, his expression neutral. Perhaps he was still displeased. He did not seem to like silence. She closed her eyes, cleared her throat, trying to think of something to say. She knew little about university, but she was aware that there were different topics one could choose to learn. "What…what are you studying? Here?"

Julian seemed startled. "Uh…" he hesitated. "Biochemistry."

Laura raised her eyebrows. Not only had he never expressed an interest in the topic, but in the past, she had heard him make derisive marks to several students at the school about their scientific interests.

Now he lowered his eyes slightly, as if following her thoughts. "It's…uh…remember I said that thing about Hank when we were in space?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Okay. Well, when I was on the team…uh…the Cuckoos kind of uploaded…Dr. McCoy into my head…and…uh…I figured I might as well get some kind of proof I know this stuff, right?"

Her eyebrows drew together. "Uploaded…Dr. McCoy?"

"Um, yeah." He paused. "It was supposed to help me with telekinesis. So I can picture what I'm doing." He paused. "But I think they put a little of his personality in, too…like you know those bad science jokes he makes?"  
"I have been told I do not understand jokes." Laura paused. "So, no."

"Oh." Julian paused. "Well…I guess next time one pops up I'll let point it out."

"Okay."

He frowned. "I'm doing a business minor too."

Laura tilted her head. "You…intend to start a business?"  
"Not really." Julian shrugged. "Figured it might come in handy."

Silence, again.

Laura looked down again, biting her lip. She had focused so hard on rectifying her mistake that she had failed to prepare for what came after. She felt a sudden desire to exit the restaurant. Her knuckles began to itch. She had not cut herself since Japan, but now she made a fist, one claw slowly sliding out from between her knuckles. The brief pain of the metal gliding along the inner skin of her wrist helped suppress the urge to run.

"Something wrong?"

She started, looked up at him.

His forehead was wrinkled.

"I…I am…I…" she closed her eyes. "I am afraid of…disappointing you."

"Huh?" He sounded confused. "What? Why?"

Laura hesitated. "…I do not know what to…I am not good with words."

"Am I just meeting you or something?" Julian leaned forward, reaching across the table for her hands. "It's fine. I know who you are. We don't need to talk _all_ the time." His voice was soft. "Just tell me what you're thinking. When you're thinking it. Like you did now."

She stared at him, withdrawing her claw with a small _snakt_ sound.

Julian raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

Immediately, she knew he would not approve. "Nothing."

"Show me your hands, then."

Laura paused. "No." She began wiping her wrist against her leg, but the leather of her skirt was only smearing the blood around.

He sighed, like she did when her clones were disobedient. "I know you cut yourself."

Her eyebrows drew together. "…" Pause. She remembered that thought she had, before they had gone to Madripoor to fight Kimura. "You have read Sarah's letter."

"So what if I have?" He gave her a firm look. "You were gone. I was trying to find you. I thought it might help me find where they took you."

Laura considered this, nodded slightly.

"Show me your hands." His voice was softer.

After a moment, she raised them over the edge of the table. The left was covered in red stains by her efforts to clean it. She watched his expression warily.

He wrapped his metal fingers around hers gently, focusing on her skin. Red droplets rose into the air and evaporated into steam, then he rubbed his thumb over the area, frowning. "Laura. I know you're not like anyone else. I don't _want_ anyone else." Finally, he looked at her. "Understand?"

Her eyebrows drew together. "Yes."

"Sorry about the wait." The waitress had returned and was putting their drinks down in front of them. "Have you had a chance to decide?"

He shook his head. "No, we need more time."

"Sure thing! I'll be right back then."

Julian picked up a menu, and after a moment, she did as well, glancing up at him, still uncertain. But he had not smelled like he was lying. After a moment, she began to examine her food options.

* * *

After they had placed their orders and had waited in silence for about five minutes, there was a buzz from under the table, and Julian pulled his phone out and looked at it. His eyebrows drew together, as if he was confused. Then his eyes widened. "Oh. _Fuck._ " He whispered this.

Laura gave him a questioning look.

"Um." His forehead wrinkled. "I…I have to go make a call, okay?" His heart beat had quickened slightly.

"Okay." She paused. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh, not really." Julian paused. "I just…uh…"

 _BAM! BAM! BAM!_

They both started slightly as a woman banged on the window with her fist, shouting. "THERE YOU ARE! I KNEW IT!"

Laura eyed the woman. She had tanned skin and a bob of dark curly hair. Her full lips were curved in something resembling a snarl, and her eyes glittered in the darkness. Even though she could not detect her scent, it was clear that she was angry.

Julian stared at the newcomer as well. Then he gave Laura a wide-eyed look. "Can you excuse me for a second?"

Laura nodded.

He left the restaurant and went outside.

She sipped her water.

"Iara. Hi." Laura could hear him clearly through the glass, even though he had guided the woman toward the street. "Look. I know we had a date—"

"Don't you dare 'hi' _me!_ " Iara snapped. She spoke with a strong tonic accent. Laura suspected that she spoke Portuguese. Russian was another possibility, but she thought it was less likely. "Who is she?!"

"Remember I told you about my ex?" He paused. "That's her."

Iara turned her head and gazed at Laura through the window, her eyes narrowed. Then she shoved him out of her way and stomped toward the restaurant.

"No!" Julian sounded frustrated. "Iara—"

Laura wondered why he did not simply restrain the woman with his powers, but soon she was otherwise occupied. Iara was now standing above her. She picked up Laura's water glass and dumped it on her head.

"…" Laura glared up at her.

"I know you're his ex, and I know you think you're all that, but I've come to tell you that you're _not._ " Iara paused. "He's mine now. Get the hell over him and go away." She leaned over and thumped her finger on Laura's shoulder. "Or I'll mess. You. Up."

Laura's mouth pressed into a line. "Do not touch me."

Julian reached the table. "Stop. This is an honest mistake. I just forgot—"

Iara whirled around. " _Forgot?_ " Then she slapped him, hard, with a _thwack!_

Laura propped her elbow on the table and made a fist. _Snkkt._ "Leave." Her voice was firm.

The woman paused. _Snff._ Her eyes began to cloud over. Then her skin was changing, rippling, from a deep tan color to a dark, smooth, grey. Her features were changing, too, her nose growing longer and broader, her mouth stretching. And filling with teeth. Sharp teeth.

Loud screaming, all around them.

"…" Laura looked at Julian, her forehead wrinkling. "What is happening?"

Julian rubbed his cheek, which was forming the white imprint of a hand. "Nothing _good_."

"RRRRAAAWWWWRRRRRGGHHH!" The creature that had been Iara, which now resembled a shark, was launching itself toward her. She stumbled out of her chair, uncertain of how to react. She could kill this creature easily. But it had been a woman a few moments ago. And they had agreed not to kill anymore. The creature crashed headlong into their table, cutlery flying everywhere. And then through the restaurant window. Which smashed into thousands of pieces.

More loud screaming. Yelling. People running everywhere.

"Oh, fuck it." Julian leapt out the window, grabbed the shark with his mind, then shot into the air, hauling it behind him like a trailer.

Laura followed him, knowing by the cries of "monsters!" that they were no longer welcome at the restaurant. She watched with folded arms as Julian set the shark up on the roof of a tall building, then as he returned and landed in front of her.

Silence. Except for the sirens in the distance.

Julian rubbed his neck. "Just how mad _are_ you?"

Laura raised her eyebrows. "I am not angry."

"I'm not falling for that."

"The authorities are approaching. We should leave."

"Story of my life." He reached out to the restaurant window, and the shards of glass rose back into the frame, the cracks smoothing until the window had been repaired. Then he offered her his hand.

After a moment she took it and allowed him to pull her up into the air.

* * *

"Think we lost them?"

They were now sitting under a tree, on a hill, listening for sirens. Laura had not heard any in the past five minutes, so she nodded.

Julian frowned. "I'm so, so sorry." The hand print on his cheek was now bright red. "She's…I just saw her a couple times. We didn't…we kissed once. But that's it."

She looked down. "Okay."

He reached out, touched her chin with his fingers. "I mean…not like I'd be in the wrong if I had…but I haven't been with anyone else that way. Only you."

Laura glanced up. His scent did not suggest a lie…but she had seen it for herself. She hesitated. "What about Nori?"

"…" Julian stared at her. "What?" His voice was a little louder.

"I saw you." She frowned. "You went with her to you room…and closed the door. The night after the Leper Queen incident."

His eyebrows drew together. "How—what—were you _creeping_ on me?" His voice had sharpened slightly.

"No, I came to your room to talk to you." She paused. "But you were…busy."

Julian closed his eyes. "I didn't…grr." He shook his head, looked at her again. "Look. We were still split up. And you admitted that it was your mistake. You don't have any _right_ to be angry about what happened during that time."

"No." Laura frowned. "You are correct…and I…I am not angry." She hesitated. "But, right now, you said that you had not been with anyone else."

He studied her for a few moments, then brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "No, I haven't. Yeah…I kissed Nori, and we were in my room, and I was _going_ to…but then I started missing you and I…I couldn't." He paused. "So I asked her to leave."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Did she?"

"Yeah." Julian hesitated. "Wasn't happy about it though. She straight up punched me in the face…and I let her, because I felt like an ass." Pause. "Lucky for me, she had already her gauntlets off."

She frowned. "You could have stopped Iara easily, tonight. Is that why you allowed her to attack? Because you 'felt like an ass'?"

"I…" He looked down. "No. I mean, I felt bad tonight, too. But I kind of avoid using my powers now. I'm trying to start fresh and…I mean, I can kill people just by _thinking_ about it, so I figured…" he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. It's stupid."

Laura touched his hand. Logically, yes, his actions had been stupid…but she thought she understood his fear of causing harm. She, too, had done stupid things because of this same fear.

"Wait a minute." His eyebrows drew together. "You mean…we could've been together already, a month ago? If not for…that?"

She nodded slightly.

He closed his eyes for a moment, his nose wrinkled. Then he shook his head, glanced at her again. "Still hungry?"

She smiled slightly. "Yes."

* * *

After eating at a local IHOP, during which Laura shared a description of her recent dining experience with the clones, they headed back to Julian's apartment, Laura carrying a box of leftovers that she knew the clones would find palatable.

They reached his door.

"Well, that was..." Julian paused. "I'm not going to say it was perfect, because I know have my crazy shark ex destroy the restaurant wasn't smooth…but I still had fun."

Laura looked at the carton in her hands. "Yes."

He touched her chin with his fingers. "Still mad at me?"

"I was, and still am not angry at you." She hesitated. "I simply do not want to say goodbye."

"You're leaving?" He sounded surprised.

She glanced at him. "My clones require care."

Julian raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure they'll be fine." His hand moved down from her chin to her shoulder, his eyes travelling down her figure. "I thought...you know…we were going to…" he trailed off, gazing at the laces on her top, visible through her open jacket.

Laura frowned. "You told me that I should not kiss anyone else while we were in a relationship."

He nodded, still examining her body. She could hear his heart rate elevating, his respiration quickening slightly. He wanted to practice reproduction with her again. To resume where they left off. She felt her own skin starting to tingle, even though he was only touching her through her jacket. She could remember the pleasant sensation in exact detail. Then she closed her eyes, took a deeper breath. "Iara believes you are in a relationship with her."

"…" Julian looked up at her. "I'm pretty sure she figured it out—"

Laura shook her head.

He closed his eyes. " _Really_?" He sounded frustrated.

"You asked me if I am angry. I am not. But…she is." Laura paused, her eyebrows drawing together. "Rectify the situation. Then we will…proceed."

Julian leaned back against his door. "You _know_ that's impossible, right? She's going to want to kill me. There's no way I can just make her feel better."

Laura frowned. "I would…'feel bad'…otherwise."

He closed his eyes. "Fine. I'll…'rectify the situation' the best I can."

She paused. "Without telepathy."

Julian looked at her again. " _Damn._ This is almost evil." He paused. "You're _sure_ you're not mad at me?"

Laura shook her head. "No. I am practicing what you have told me."

"I clearly need to stop telling you things." He paused. "Speaking of, did you get a phone yet?"

"Yes."

"Let me see it."

Laura pulled it out and handed it to him.

He pressed the power button. "You should keep it on." Then it began to buzz in his hand. Repeatedly. His eyebrows drew together and he looked at the screen. "Holy shit, you have a hundred and fifty-six unread texts?"

"Cessily." Laura paused. "I will read them later."

"Good luck with that." He fiddled with the phone. "Just sending myself a message so I have your number." He finished and handed it back to her.

"Okay." Laura smiled at him. "Goodnight."

"Night." He paused, then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll take care of this soon, I promise. Tomorrow."

"Okay." She turned and headed down the stairs, selecting Megan from her list of contacts. Despite the difficulty of leaving, despite the way her cheek was tingling, she felt certain it was the right choice.

* * *

 _Woosh!_

"OHMIGOD HOW—WHERE—WHATSIT—TELL ME _EVERYTHING!"_

Cessily pounced on her instantly, physically pushing Megan out of the way. Laura had been expecting this, but the ferocity was still mildly disconcerting.

"SO?! Did he pop the question yet?! Oh my god when is it?! CAN I PLAN IT?! SAY YES PLEASE! I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS!" The manner in which she said "please" was oddly reminiscent of her clones.

Laura eyed her. "'Question'?"

Cessily's eyes narrowed. "Change into something comfortable. I have a _lot_ to teach you."

Laura shook her head. "Later. I need to assist my clones with their nighttime rituals."

Cessily sighed, closed her eyes. "Just…tell me, how'd it go?"

Laura thought for a moment, deciding how to best summarize the events of the evening. "He forgot that he was in a relationship. The…other individual…transformed into a shark and attacked us during dinner."

"…" Cessily stared at her. _"What?_ "

"Get out!" Megan was also staring at them. "Are you serious?"

"I am going to _kill_ him." Cessily looked at Megan. "Take me to his place."

"No." Laura paused. "He will speak to her, I asked him to. I am going to take care of my clones now. Goodnight."

She headed up the stairs and down the hall to Sarah's room. The door opened before she could even knock, and the clones attached themselves to her limbs, speaking at once.

"When is Julian—" Betty.

"I would like to—" Alice.

"He should—" Gabby.

"—returning?"

"—introduce him to Walter—"

"—return so we can defend him—"  
"—my fancy pet cephalopod—"

"—as he is not very intelligent—"

"One at a time!" Laura ordered, overwhelmed at being so energetically greeted again so shortly after Cessily. It also surprised her she had instructed the clones to speak in a singular fashion repeatedly, and yet they showed no improvement. "Yes, I have seen Julian. I do not know when he will return. That is not necessary Gabby." She paused. "He is capable of defending himself."

"Hello." Sarah had appeared at the door behind the clones. She took off her glasses and tucking them in her shirt pocket. "Did you have fun?"

"Yes." Laura paused. "Thank you for watching the clones."

"Of course." Sarah smiled slightly. "I enjoy spending time with them. They're so curious about everything." She paused. "We were discussing cells. They really seemed to enjoy the library the other day."

Betty pointed at the box in Laura's hands. "Are those…waffles?"

Laura held the box out to her. "Yes. We dined at an IHOP."

Silence. Three sets of eyes narrowed.

She lowered the box, raising an eyebrow. "You are…displeased?"

"You _dined_ at _IHOP?_ " Betty's voice was sharp. "With _Julian?_ _Without us?_ "

"This is…" Gabby looked down, then up. "Why?"

"This is a betrayal." Alice whispered this.

Laura closed her eyes. "You were not there. And I have brought you food. Is that not sufficient?"

"No." Betty glared at her. "I dislike you!" She stomped down the hallway.

Gabby covered her mouth, glanced at Laura. "I will—we will be back soon." She ran after Betty, as did Alice.

Laura sighed and looked at Sarah. "I must go."

Her mother reached out and gave her a hug. "You're doing great."

Laura closed her eyes, nodded slightly. Then she straightened and headed off down the hallway, the box of waffles still held tightly in her hands.

* * *

Laura shut the book and turned off the bedside light, gazing at the three small, identical, sleeping faces. She had spent almost an hour trying to find them, since they had the same scent-masking that she did, and so had to rely solely on her hearing. She had eventually found them in the cafeteria, discussing what ingredients pancakes might possibly involve, and had managed to persuade them to stop. This required her to agree, on Julian's behalf, that he would personally make them pancakes in the near future. With his mind. She assumed he would figure it out.

Eventually they had eaten the waffles she had brought and agreed to perform bedtime rituals, and now, finally, they were asleep. She leaned back and closed her eyes, exhausted, but thinking that the situation could be much worse.

Several months ago, she had thought she might die in her cell. That Kimura would kill all of her clones, especially the deviants she had heard of. That even if she escaped, she should be destroyed. That Julian was dead. Now, they were all alive, including Sarah, who she had never imagined she would see again. Matters were not perfect yet, and she was still as dangerous and as abnormal as before, but she had the sense that perhaps she was finally on the path to discovering how to achieve becoming "real."

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. After a moment she pulled it out, afraid to see that it was more messages from Cessily, but no, this was from a number that was not yet in her contacts. _Hi._ She slid out the keyboard and began to type slowly, with her thumbs.

 _Hello._

A moment's pause. _What u doing?_

 _I was putting the clones to bed._

 _Give hug from me._

Laura glanced at the sleeping girls. _In the morning._

 _OK. Miss u._

Her eyebrows drew together. _I miss you too._ Then she plugged the phone into the charger and prepared for bed.

* * *

Julian drummed his metal fingers on the table. He felt impatient. This was the only thing standing between himself and Laura, so he wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. But he also knew rushing things with Iara would only make things worse. He had sent her a message this morning suggesting coffee, figuring she would get back to him in the afternoon, but then she had texted him back almost immediately with a " _hell yes 3_ ". Which was disconcerting. Was Laura right in thinking that she really hadn't taken the hint? Did she somehow not remember the whole thing where she turned into a freaking shark and tried to maul them?

Laura had specified no telepathy, and he wasn't planning on it, both because he wanted to honor her wishes, and because he wouldn't feel right about doing so in the first place. But, given the whole weird deal with Iara turning into a shark and attacking them, and then apparently not remembering it, he thought it would be alright if he poked around a little and found out where she stood on matters.

He watched as Iara entered the café, a smile spreading across her face as she spotted him. Then he closed his eyes and dived in. Oh. She _didn't_ remember anythingfrom the other night. She had blanked out completely. The shark thing—she had no idea that it happened. She just knew there were a bunch of holes in her memory. She saw her doctor often, thinking it was some kind of neurophysical problem. Actually, that's why she had come to the states in the first place. To see specialists. His eyebrows drew together, and he looked at her again as she slipped into the chair across from him, her smile fading.

"Who slapped you?!" she demanded as she studied her own handiwork.

Julian cleared his throat. This was going to be harder than he had anticipated. Or…maybe easier, since she didn't remember him being a jerk and forgetting all about her. He hesitated. It wasn't considered telepathy if he just didn't remind her of something she had forgotten, right? "Just someone at a party. Listen…I have something to tell you. You're not going to like it."

She stared at him. "Wha—are you breaking up with me?"

He paused. "Um. Yeah. But—let me explain, okay?"

"Explain?" Iara leaned forward. "As if there's anything that would make it _better?_ I thought we were doing good. Having fun."

"Uh." Julian rubbed his neck. "It's really, _really_ not you. That's what I want to explain. I...I told you about my ex. When we started this." Which he had. Thank god. "She's back…and she wants to try…and…and I'm not over her."

Iara reached over the table, touched his hand. She and everyone in the café perceived it as flesh, since he masked their metallic nature whenever he couldn't hide them in his pockets, one slight concession he'd made about using his powers. "You can do it. She's not worth it."

Julian paused. "No. She is. I'm not—I don't think you understand. I'm not going to change my mind on this." He paused. "I love her."

Her eyes narrowed, her fingers curling around his. "You just need support. _I'm_ there for you. We can work through this together."

"…" Julian pulled his hand away. "No. I don't want to. You and I are done." He paused. "I'm sorry. I wish I didn't have to hurt you."

Silence.

"WE'RE NOT THROUGH!" Iara shouted suddenly, making everyone in the café turn their heads. "I LOVE YOU! I'M NOT GIVING UP ON US! THIS ISN'T OVER!"

Julian stared at her.

Iara grabbed his coffee and splashed it at him, then stormed out of the café, throwing a chair out of her way in the process.

Coffee dripped off his shield, which he had barely raised in time. He was trying to avoid using his powers, yes, but he didn't feel like adding burns to his already colorful face. But now everyone in the café was glaring at _him._ He sighed, then shrank down and made himself invisible by masking his presence from the other minds in the room. After a moment, he pulled out his phone and began a text. _Drinks tonight?_

* * *

 _VTT!_

Laura and Vanisher appeared on the corner of the quiet street, the leaves swirling around their feet.

"Thank you." Laura said, a little stiffly. She had spoken to Sooraya recently and was not impressed with what she had heard of his behavior. But Megan had been busy.

"So, what's this about?" Vanisher paused, seeing the bar down the street. "Interrogation? Cheat at drinking games? Going to drown your sorrows and get laid?"

Laura said nothing, began to walk.

"What you up to these days anyway?" Vanisher was following her. "Heard you left the team, but nothing after…"

"I do not want to talk to you." Laura glanced at him. "Goodbye."

"Oh come _on!"_ Vanisher folded his arms. "You get all dressed up and get me to teleport you to a _bar_ on the other fucking _coast_ and you think I'm not going to have questions?" He paused, then grinned. "It's that other _kid_ , isn't it?! You're doing a booty call. Hah! I _knew_ something was up." Pause. "You can do better than him, you know." And now was eyeing her suggestively.

"…" Laura glanced at him, her nose wrinkling.

"Hey!" Vanisher's lip curled. "You better watch your—"

 _VTT!_

The door opened, and Julian looked out, smirking. "Sent him to ask Logan to join his gross brothel thing."

The corners of Laura's lips turned upward.

A few minutes later they were seated at the bar on tall stools, two glasses of beer standing in front of them, a pair of empty shot glasses on either side.

"Did you…" Laura hesitated.

Julian nodded, his forehead wrinkling. "Yep."

She raised an eyebrow. "No telepathy?"

"Just to check what she remembered. Because, um, she didn't even remember seeing us the other night, at all. I told her that we were together now and…" he closed his eyes. "She was _not_ happy, like I said she wasn't going to be…threw her drink in my face and screamed at me…and…I'm not…I'm not sure it took."

Laura paused. "'Took'?"

"I don't know if she…understood. Accepted it." Julian hesitated. "I don't think _she_ stopped dating me." He rubbed his face with his hand.

Her eyebrows drew together. "But you attempted to explain. I think that is sufficient."

He looked between his fingers. "Really?"

Laura nodded, smiled slightly. "Yes."

Julian reached over and took her hand. "Let's get out of here."

"We have not drunk our beverages."

He picked his up and chugged it, in a manner reminiscent to Gabby drinking Logan's milkshake. Laura hesitated, then did the same. She had just set her glass down when he pulled her off the stool and led her to the door, grinning at her.

They had barely reached his apartment door when he pulled her against him and kissed her, hard, his hands sliding down her back to press her closer to his body. She closed her eyes, let herself concentrate on the tingling sensations that had begun everywhere they were touching. It was as if no time had passed since the last time. Now he was guiding her into his apartment, the door closing and locking softly behind them as he backed her up against the wall, his face buried in her neck, kissing her everywhere.

She slid her arms on top of his shoulders, her eyebrows drawing together. Then he was moving again, hefting her up and carrying her toward his bed. He dropped her on it and began to work on undressing her, first her boots, then her top, lace by lace. By the time his mouth was on hers again, there was nothing between them. As he inched down her body, pressing kisses to her skin, she thought, momentarily, that she had failed to consider these moments when deciding that she did not please him. He seemed to be nothing _but_ pleased. Then he reached that area that demanded her complete focus, and she stopped thinking, her hand gripping his pillow. A few moments later, there was a _Snkkt!_ but neither paid any attention.

Sometime later, she slipped out of bed and moved to the kitchen. His apartment was small, just the bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen, with a small square carpeted space attached. She opened the fridge and found it mostly bare, except for a carton of milk. Which smelled expired. She raised her eyebrows.

"Laura?" Julian called, his voice hoarse. A moment later, he was around the corner, his eyes locking on her immediately. "I woke up and you were gone."

She closed the fridge. "Where are your glasses?"

"Here." He opened a cupboard and pulled out a plastic cup. "Hungry? I can order something."

"Thirsty." She accepted the cup and turned the faucet on.

He watched as she drank, his eyebrows drawing together. Then he pressed himself against her back, kissed her shoulder. "I don't want you to go back. To New York."

Laura lowered the cup, turned to face him. "My clones need me."

"Yeah, so do I." He kissed her shoulder again, higher up.

She closed her eyes. "I do not want to be separated from them."

"No." He took the cup from her hands gently and set it on the counter, then lifted her onto it as well, nudging her knees apart so he could stand between them. "We'll figure it out. No more stupid things keeping us apart, okay?"

Laura hesitated, then nodded slightly, running her fingers up his back as he kissed her neck.

* * *

"There is a crack." Laura was laying on her back, on the small carpeted area near the kitchen, gazing upward.

"Hmm?" Julian opened one eye. He was perpendicular, his head resting on her stomach.

"In your ceiling." She pointed upward.

"Cool." He closed his eye again.

She ran her fingers through his hair, thinking. "What would I need to do? To attend this school?"

"Stuff." Julian paused, looked up at her. "You want to?"

Her eyebrows drew together. "It…it is what most people do, correct?"

"You don't have to." He frowned. "But if you want to be something else…it could help." He sat up, took her hands. "We could make it work. Get a bigger place…bring the girls here…" Something about the tone of his voice felt familiar, but it faded on the next statement. "They would be safer, with us. Xavier's is a death trap."

Laura frowned. "Who would supervise them when we are away?"

"I don't know." He paused. "Not sure how we'll afford it either…Frost helped me with this." He gestured around them. "Maybe we can ask her again?"

She considered this. "Perhaps."

He gazed at her. "I'd really, really like to try."

Laura realized what the familiar feeling was. He was enthusiastic about this idea, something that had not happened in a long, long time. She paused, the corners of her lips turning upward. "Okay."


	36. Chapter 36 - Lost Again

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the reviews! Responses below. Hope you enjoy this chapter too!  
Delta808th- some of your desires will be touched on soon, haha. :)  
Rokusan23- yay! I shall incorporate some adaption of that in a future chapter.  
Thorber Stone- responded to you before, but thanks again!  
Nightmare Nurse and Guest- thanks! :D  
Canuck101- Sounds cool! One suggestion, it seems a little random that the janitor would just happen to be at the same bar (maybe? unless the cloning facility is near enough the school...) Perhaps it would be more streamlined to have Julian go looking for Laura, and Quire accompanies, and they stumble on the clones along the way? Also, I don't know if you know this/if it would affect anything, but Quire has hosted the phoenix before too.

* * *

CHAPTER 36

 _Lost Again_

* * *

"Julian." Frost looked up from her desk to see him opening her door. Her eyebrows raised. "I sensed you had returned…but I will confess to surprise. What brings you back?"

"Laura." He closed the door behind them, moved over to a chair.

Frost paused, her eyes on his cheek. "Have you been slapped recently?"

Julian closed his eyes. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I see." Pause. "Have a seat."

He sat down and leaned forward on her desk. "Laura wants to get out of here...and I think she should. I'm way happier now, away from all this. This place is bad." He gritted his teeth for a moment. "She needs a fresh start."

"I see." Frost arched her eyebrows. "I take it there is a request following? Or have you come simply to complain?"

"We need, uh, help." Julian said this reluctantly, like an admission. "Bigger place. We're bringing her clones. She's going to enroll, too. Have a future outside of all this." He paused. "You _owe_ her that, after what you did to her."

Frost's eyes narrowed. "Do not presume to tell me what my debts are." She paused. "It saddens me, but I am going to say no."

Julian stared at her. "…what?"

"I have assisted you a great deal already." Frost straightened. "I suppose we all have our weaknesses and flaws. Yours seems to be an innate belief that you are entitled to my help, no matter how you broach the request. Probably a remainder of your parents replacing affection with handouts, but I will tolerate it no longer."

Julian's forehead wrinkled. "But…"

"Laura is welcome to make the request herself." Frost raised her eyebrows. "Perhaps you could learn through observation."

He got to his feet and headed for the door, then leaned out, into the hallway. "She wants to talk to you."

A moment later, Laura entered Frost's office as well, her eyebrows drawn together. "Hello."

"Hello, Laura." Frost paused. "I take it your excursion went well."

Laura glanced at Julian, who was watching them with folded arms. "Yes."

Frost smiled for a moment. "Good. Have a seat, dear. I believe you have something to ask me?"

Laura nodded as she sat down. "I would like to…attend the university." She paused. "I will need to support my clones eventually, and my current…skillset…is no longer viable."

Julian sat down beside her, his eyebrows drawn together, but he remained silent.

"What do you wish to study?" Frost asked.

"I…I do not know." Laura paused. "I am not certain what…what the options are."

"I see." Frost frowned. "You can take some time to decide. Many people begin with no idea of what they want to do."

Laura said nothing.

"I do not know if taking your girls would be in your best interest, though." Frost leaned back in her chair. "University is hard work. You will have many assignments to complete."

"I do not want to be separated from them again." Laura paused. "When I was in Japan…I missed them."

Julian glanced at her.

"What about Sarah?" Frost raised her eyebrows. "She has spent a great deal of time with them…knows their history…perhaps could she move nearby, so you could visit them as you please?"

"I…" Laura's eyebrows drew together. "Perhaps. I will ask her."

"Very good." Frost paused. "Let me know what she says. Then we will speak details."

"Okay." Laura rose. "Thank you."

Frost looked at Julian pointedly.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, I _get_ it. I wasn't—" He sighed, folded his arms on the table and looked at her. "I'm sorry. You _know_ I'm grateful for your help. We both are. I thought that went without saying." He glanced at Laura. "She wouldn't even be free, without you."

"You of all people should know that being a telepath does not mean it is acceptable for others to not bother with common courtesies." Frost paused. "But, apology accepted. Now, I have several phone calls to make, so I would appreciate privacy."

They left her office, Laura closing the door softly behind them.

"You were in Japan?" Julian asked, as they headed down the hallway.

"Yes."

"When?"

"I left right after you woke up."

"After Nori, you mean."

"Yes."

He paused. "Why'd you go there?"

"Logan asked me to monitor his son, Daken, who was interacting with individuals known to be linked to Bastion."

He raised his eyebrows. "His _son?_ "

"Yes."

"I didn't know he _had_ one." Julian paused. "He never talks about him."

"They are not on good terms."

Julian frowned. "Wonder why. Logan's alright. I mean…I was a little angry at him, for how he treated you…but in another way I got it, you know?"

Laura stopped. "How he treated me?"

"You know. When we were helping Hope." His eyebrows drew together. "He said you would die for the mission."

"That was not untruthful." Laura paused. "We both nearly died."

"Yeah." Julian looked down. "But he sounded so…cold. Like he didn't care. Like you didn't mean anything to him."

"I do not believe that." She paused. "He was pleased that I left the team."

He was silent for a moment. "Huh."

"Locate my clones. I would like to see them before we speak with Sarah."

"They're outside." Julian paused. "With Cess and…Santo? Those two are hanging out?"

"They have been, yes." Laura headed to the door.

"Think they're picking up again?" He followed her. "Like, dating?"

"Perhaps." She raised an eyebrow. "You are a telepath. You could answer this yourself."

He shrugged. "I don't dig around unless I really have to."

Laura said nothing, opening the door and walked down the stairs, her eyes searching for her clones. She saw them on the lawn, playing catch with their supervisors. No sooner had she spotted them than they were running toward her. She prepared to kneel and receive their greeting, but they passed her and hit Julian's legs with a series of soft noises. _Whump! Whump! Whump!_

"Hey!" He crouched down. "Miss me?"

Unintelligible screaming, following by loud, bellowed statements.

"JULIAN WE HAVE ATTAINED MUCH KNOWLEDGE—" Gabby.

"I NOW OWN A CEPHALAPOD NAMED WALTER—"Alice, waving her plush octopus in his face.

"HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PANCAKES—" Betty.

"—WE ARE BECOMING HIGHLY COMPETANT IN SOCIAL SKILLS—"

"—HE IS AN IMITATION ANIMAL—"

"—AKA IHOP—"

"—WE HAVE MASTERED THE ART OF POLITE CONVERSATION—"

"—I NAMED HIM AFTER WALTER DISNEY WHO CREATED—"

"—IT IS WHERE PANCAKES LIVE AND YOU CAN EAT THEM I HAVE DECIDED IT IS MY LIFE'S WORK TO—"

"Woah, one at a time." Julian grinned up at Laura, as he wrapped his arms around the clones in a hug. "Forgot how _loud_ you are."

For a moment the corners of her lips turned upward, then it faded. "Cessily is coming."

They both turned to watch said Cessily snaking through the grass toward them. Julian shoved the clones away and stood, shielding himself and wincing, obviously preparing for an assault.

But Cessily stopped in front of him. "Hi Julian, how's school going?" Her tone was neutral.

"…" His eyes narrowed. "You're just waiting for me to drop the shield, aren't you?"

"No, I'm trying a new thing where I give people the space they so _desperately_ want." Cessily stuck her chin in the air as she spoke, her eyes on Laura, her voice sharp.

Laura shifted. She suspected this comment referred to her actions the other night, yet she did not feel regret.

Santo shoved Cessily out of the way and gave Julian a one-armed hug. "Good to see ya man. Knew you couldn't stay away long."

"You too." Julian frowned. "But I'm not _back._ I'm just helping Laura get ready."

"Ready for what?" Cessily's tone was indifferent.

Laura glanced at her. "I am joining him in California."

"WHA—" Cessily closed her eyes. "Ahem. That's nice."

Santo grinned. "Ten bucks says she can't go an hour without raising her voice."

Cessily glared at Santo. "Excuse _me?_ "

"You're on." Julian paused. "But I can make her be quiet, right? Otherwise the odds are, like, worse than winning the lottery."

"Nope, that's cheatin'."

"Ugh. Both of you are just the worst." Cessily rolled her eyes. "So…Laura…are you going to go to school? Or…?"

"Yes."

"That's…cool." Cessily shot a glare at Santo, who was watching her closely. "I _hate_ you, you know that?" Her tone was stiff.

"She raised her voice a _little._ " Santo glanced at Julian. "Pay up."

"Hey, if I can't use telepathy, then you can't bait her." Julian looked down as Betty tugged on his sleeve.

"What is a California and how does one 'join' it?" Her eyebrows were drawn together.

"Should we prepare for combat?" Gabby was frowning. "Will this be a strategic alliance?"

"Perhaps we should bring it gifts." Alice whispered this. Pause. "It cannot have Walter. It _cannot._ "

Julian grinned. "California's a place, not a thing." He glanced at Laura. "We should also talk about school or something for them, too. I mean, when I was their age, I already knew what states were."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Unlikely."

"Oh come on. I'm not slow. I knew that kind of stuff when I was four or five."

"They are less than two years old."

"…" Julian's forehead wrinkled. "…what?"

"Shit, really?" Santo.

"Yes. The cloning project began after my recapture by the facility." Laura paused. "They were artificially matured, either via accelerated activation of their healing factors or further genetic engineering."

"Yes, that is correct." Gabby raised her chin. "You can scan our microchips to locate unit information, including production dates. It is located on the back of our necks."

Julian stared at her. "You mean…they're going to be our age in under a decade?"

"Possibly sooner." Laura shrugged. "Their healing factors are not at full effect yet. The artificial maturation process will likely continue to adulthood."

Pause. Everyone was staring at her now.

"So, X…" Santo grinned. "How 'bout _you?_ You jailbait?"

"Don't." Julian's forehead wrinkled, and his heart rate quickened. "If I don't know, it's not a crime." He shifted. "Right?"

Cessily shook her head. "Trust me…that's not how it works."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "'Jailbait'?"

"Santo, _don't._ " Julian paused. "When…when were you born, Laura?" His voice was very small, and there was adrenaline in his scent now.

"Approximately twenty years ago." She raised an eyebrow. "Sarah would know the exact date. I have never inquired."

He exhaled hard.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because…it would be bad if you weren't." Cessily paused. "This isn't really an appropriate topic to talk about right now, though." She glanced at the clones. "Little pitchers have big ears."

"I…what?" Laura's forehead wrinkled.

"I'll explain later." Julian glanced at the clones, who were observing the conversation keenly. "Promise me you girls won't repeat this to anyone, okay?"

Three heads nodded.

"Great." He frowned and looked at Laura again. "Speaking of Sarah."

"Okay." Laura glanced at Cessily. "We will return for the clones shortly."

"Cool." Cessily pretended to feign indifference again.

"Damn, maybe you _are_ gonna win this bet." Santo glanced at Julian. "Clock pauses till you're back. I ain't got any bombshells that compare to what you guys drop on her."

Julian grinned. "Deal."

Cessily gritted her teeth, shook her head, then stretched her arm around all three clones. "C'mon, let's go to the pond."

Laura gave them a stern look. "Do _not_ eat the amphibians, do you understand?"

Reluctant nods.

As they walked back into the building, Julian shook his head. "They _need_ to be in school. Or getting tutored. Like, right away."

"I did not attend school."

He gave her an unimpressed look. "And how'd that work out for you?"

Laura paused. "Yes, I see your point." She paused. "Locate Sarah."

"Already did. She's in the lab with Hank." He grinned. "You don't have to talk to me like I'm the danger room or something." They reached the and he pressed the button.

Laura glanced at him. Her face began to warm, and she looked down.

"Something wrong?"

"No."

"You sure?" His voice was a little sharper. "Remember…you're supposed to _tell_ methings now. Or—"

"I…" she closed her eyes. "You are causing me to…react physically."

His forehead wrinkled. "Huh? What do you mean?" He paused. "Like, bad, or—"

Laura hesitated. "No. I want to…practice reproduction…with you." She glanced at him, her eyebrows drawn together. "But the time is inappropriate. We have…tasks. And It is too early."

Julian stared at her for a moment. "Oh."

The elevator doors opened, and she stepped in.

He followed, his eyebrows drawing together. "There's…we don't have to _wait…_ "

She tilted her head. "I thought it was an activity associated with sleeping."

"No." He pressed a button on the panel, eyeing her. "We can do it whenever we want." Pause. "Like…for example…right now." The doors slid shut behind him.

"Oh." Laura paused. "Yes, please."

Julian pressed something else on the panel, then leaned forward and kissed her, backing her toward the opposite side of the elevator. She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her fingers in his hair, her eyes closing.

* * *

A few minutes later: _Snkkt!_

Laura looked to the side, to see her fist pressed against the steel wall of the elevator. _Snakt!_ Two small holes remained. Her forehead wrinkled. "I…should not have done that."

Julian ran his fingertips over the damage, and she watched as the material warped back together. "That's how I know you had fun."

Her eyebrows drew together. "You cannot tell—"

"No, it was a joke." He grinned. "Trust me. I can tell."

"Okay." She hesitated. "Do you want me to verbally indicate—"

"Nope." He held out her t-shirt, grinning. "Sex is the one thing we don't need to work on." He paused. "Much. Maybe a few things about initiating it."

"Okay." She began to pull her garments back on, the corners of her lips also turning upward.

After they were both dressed, and Julian had fixed his hair using the wall as a mirror, he hit the button for the elevator to resume. A few moments later the door opened and they stepped out. Onto…grass.

"What the _fuck?_ " Julian blurted.

Laura said nothing, but she was also mystified. It seemed they were now situated in the middle of what looked like a savannah. The sky was dark overhead, but there was enough moonlight for her to see the blades of grass in detail. She could smell it, too, a dry, earthy smell, sunbaked grass. She frowned, looked over her shoulder, but the elevator had disappeared. "Someone has…transported us."

"I can see that." Julian closed his eyes, gritted his teeth. "Remind me to punch them in the face when I meet them."

"That may not be wise." She frowned. "We do not know why they brought us here…and presumably, they will be able to send us back."

"Presumably." He sighed. "Just…first the Collector guy, now this. What the hell is going on? Why can't we just have a stretch of time where nothing weird happens?"

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps the events are connected." She paused. "Perform a mental scan."

"What did I say about talking to me like I'm the danger room?" Julian rolled his eyes. "That was the first thing I _did._ "

"And?"

"Nothing." He shrugged. "As far as I can tell, no one around. But that doesn't mean anything. They could be cloaked. Or out of range."

"But your powers are working."

He raised his metal fist and ran energy through his hand, lighting the area with a soft green glow. "Yep." He pulled his phone out of his pocket with his other hand and looked at it. "No signal…how about you?"

Laura checked hers briefly. "The same." After a moment, she replaced it and began walking.

He followed. "Where are we going?"

"I am not sure." She glanced at him. "But I do not think we should stay still and wait for something to happen."

"Yeah, true."

They reached a small stream.

Laura stood beside it for a moment, sniffing the air. "Lions _._ " She had smelled these while completing facility missions in Africa. There was an unmistakable acrid scent to their territorial markings.

Julian's eyebrows drew together. "What, really?"

Laura glanced at him. "They are an apex predator, but I do not anticipate difficulties." Pause. "I will protect you."

"Not if I protect you first."

"…" Laura's forehead wrinkled.

He grinned.

 _RRRRRrrrnnnnnrrr…._

His grin faded. "Was that…?"

"Yes." She paused. "Perhaps we should fly."

"I like the way you think, Kinney."

A moment later they were shooting upward, toward the sky, Julian holding her hand, his other stretched out in a fist as he directed their trajectory. "I'll get us up high enough so we can get a sense for where we are."

A few moments later, Laura frowned, focusing on her hearing. Her eyes widened in alarm as she recognized the high-pitched whining sound. "Stop! There is a barrier ahead!"

He increased his speed, his shield slipping over her skin too. "We'll be fine. When we get above the clouds—"

 _BANG!_

Laura's eyebrows drew together as a sharp shock of electricity coursed through her system. Then they were tumbling back down toward the earth, gaining momentum with every passing moment. As the ground rushed toward them, Laura realized he was unconscious. And that they were falling toward what looked like a forest. With any number of sharp objects. At the last moment, she managed to curl her body around his.

 _SHLUNK!_

"…" Laura wheezed, rolled him away, and looked down at the broken branch trunk sticking through her abdomen. She could just see it with her night vision, that and the pool of dark blood forming around it. She made a face and pushed herself up slowly, trying not to pay attention to the sounds it made.

"…did we…" He raised his head, saw the blood and scrambled to his knees, his eyes fixed on her abdomen as he lit his hand again. "Ffffuck."

Laura followed his gaze. A piece of her intestines was still hanging out of a small hole. She sighed and shoved it back in with her fingers.

Julian's forehead wrinkled. His hair was sticking up at all angles. "Uh…you good?"

"I am fine." Laura glanced up. "We are trapped here."

He leaned back. "Yeah. Electrified barrier. Hand went through it fine, but it stopped when my arm hit it. Must be programmed to stop bio matter."

She nodded. "I sensed it. A moment before we struck." Pause. "It extended in either direction for…a long distance. Probably a dome."

"Well, whoever brought us here wants us to stay." Julian frowned. "I've got a hell of a headache…let's walk. In case there's other surprises waiting." He rose to his feet, swayed briefly, then offered her his free hand.

Laura accepted it and stood, her eyebrows drawn together. "You have a concussion."

"Just a little one." He shrugged. "Nothing to worry about. Where to?"

She thought for a moment, then pointed downstream of the water source. "Water flows downhill, so it will be easier terrain."

"Clever." He squeezed her hand. "Let's go."

They began to walk, picking their way carefully through the foliage.

"Any thoughts on who's behind this?" Julian paused. "Facility? Purifiers? Bastion?"

"No." Laura frowned. "This does not feel like any of them. They are usually upfront about their intentions to harm us. This is anything but direct."

"Yeah, good point." He frowned too. "Great, just what we needed. _More enemies._ "

She nodded.

They reached a small lake, the water glimmering slightly in the moonlight.

Julian paused, eyeing it. "Think that's okay to drink? I'm getting thirsty."

Laura took several steps toward the water, sniffing the air. "This is fresh water, not salt. However, there is a high level of impurity. Bacteria. I would not drink it."

Julian frowned for a moment. Then he reached out and a stream of water rose out of the lake and coalesced into a large green bubble. The water began to boil, steam rising off the bubble. A moment later it cooled, developing small patches of frost. He grinned at her. "Better?"

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Yes."

After they had both drunk, he looked around them. "We should look for somewhere to sleep. I'm getting kind of tired here. And sore." He paused and pointed at a dark silhouette. "Under that tree? We'd be close to water."

Laura hesitated. "No. I do not think we are alone."

Julian's forehead wrinkled. "What?"

"I have sensed another presence in the area since we arrived." She frowned. "But I cannot detect any vital signs. I think it may be in the water." Pause. "Perhaps some sort of reptile. Like a crocodile."

"…" He looked at the perfectly still lake. "Cool."

* * *

"How big is this place?" Julian sounded frustrated. "I _just_ want to find a place where I can sleep without getting ripped up by lions or gators. Is that really so much to ask?"

"You did not list the monkeys."

He closed his eyes. "Don't."

Laura said nothing.

The encounter had begun pleasantly enough, with Julian smiling as he saw the small creatures, and approaching them, not heeding her warnings that they might interpret his actions as aggressive. One had run up to him and hopped on his shoulder. He had mocked her for being overcautious and had just claimed that the primate was now his 'little buddy,' reaching to pet it, when it had seized his ears and attempted to remove them with its bare fingers. Julian responded with a loud noise as he blasted it into the canopy. The other primates had not responded well. He had become a target for various projectiles. The corners of her lips turned up as she thought of this, and she made a small noise.

He glanced at her. "Are you _laughing_ at me?"

She looked away. "No."

Julian shook his head. "If it were anyone else…I'd tell them to shut up. But I've never heard you laugh…so…"

The moonlight they were bathed in suddenly disappeared as it was blocked out by clouds. "Aw c'mon." Julian grumbled, then held up his hand and lit it with energy again. "This place is creepy enough as it is."

Laura pointed ahead. "Look."

There was a small cave, ahead and to the right. She approached it cautiously, her eyebrows drawn together, and her hand balled into a fist, ready to pop her claws if needed. But after reaching the small mouth of the cave and brushing away some of the bushes that concealed it, she knew it was empty. Any animal activity had taken place long ago. "This will suffice." She crawled in and removed her jacket, to use as a makeshift blanket.

"Great." He followed her in and flopped down beside her, on his back. "Just… _fuck_ this day. Why was I stupid enough to think I could visit the school without getting sucked into something weird?" He glanced at her. "Like, my life was _normal,_ except for the stupid alien thing. My biggest concern was keeping pace with my term paper. And now I'm trapped in some kind of weird dome with safari animals."

Laura frowned, sat up and pressed her hand against his chest. "Perhaps…I am the one they want." She hesitated. "Do you…regret—"

Julian sighed. "No." He wrapped his fingers around her hand, lifting it slightly. "I'm just…venting." He kissed her palm, then pressed it to his face. "It's not your fault that everyone wants you."

The corners of her lips turned upward. "Okay."

A few moments passed.

Laura hesitated. "Would you like to practice—"

He pulled her back down and kissed her, hard, his hands running up and down her sides, and she closed her eyes, leaning down into him.

* * *

Julian awoke with a start. He was alone, in a strange place. The ground was hard, and it was almost pitch-black. Then he remembered last night. The cave. _Laura._ He sat up, lighting his fist and looking around. She was nowhere to be found. He reached out and touched the place she had been. Still warm. So she hadn't been gone long. He scrambled to the mouth of the cave, then paused to summon his clothes and pull them on quickly. Then he crawled outside.

It was light out already. Dawn was just breaking. And now he could see that the forest around them was actually a jungle, full of bright greens and pinks and oranges and many other hues in the strange flowers and vines and trees. He got to his feet, wondering how he was going to find her. Why had she taken off without him? _She got what she wanted._ For a moment, he felt a sense of panic. He shook his head, annoyed at himself. He had promised himself that if he was going to do this with her, this trying again, he would _really_ do it. He wouldn't second guess her, or accuse her, or doubt her. _Then don't,_ he told himself firmly. "Laura?" he called out loud.

No response. His forehead wrinkled. After a moment, he began to walk toward the jungle. Maybe she needed his help.

"Where are you going?"

He turned, to see Laura approaching, a large creature slung over her shoulders. It looked like an antelope. Blood was smeared on her face and sides, but it didn't seem like hers. "What…" he stared at her, his relief fading as he took in the details. "What are you doing?"

"I have obtained food."

Julian wrinkled his nose. "Really? I'm good for now…I mean, yeah we're stuck here, but we're not _that_ desperate yet that we need to start eating the wildlife."

"Your powers consume a large amount of energy. On days when you use them frequently, I have observed you nearly doubling your caloric intake." She paused. "And you will likely use your powers frequently today. Start a fire in the cave and I will prepare the meal."

He gazed at her for a moment, then shrugged. If she wanted to eat it, he wasn't going to stop her. He looked around and saw some dry-looking sticks a little way off, then reached out and summoned them to his hand before returning to the cave. Lighting the sticks on fire and tossing them on the stone floor took him even less time.

Laura joined him about a minute later, her hands soaked with blood, and chunks of meatjammed onto a stick. "Hold this." She tried to pass it to him.

"Uh, no, I'm good."

"I need to wash my hands."

"Wash them after."

"Blood will attract predators."

"…" Julian looked at her hands. The red blood particles rose into the air as a mist, which he tossed into the flames. "There. Now you can stop worrying _and_ keep holding that stick."

Laura gave him a flat, unimpressed look. "You are impractical. That action cost energy. The food in this area is mostly lean meat. Protein. Which is lower in calorie content. You will require carbohydrates and fats to continue your usual energy output for flight."

"Are you…" Julian raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound like I'm a car that's going to run out of fuel."

"Yes, exactly."

He stared at her, then shook his head. It was hard to put the two ideas together. She had said she loved him, but she also thought of him like an object?

She paused. "You…do not agree." More of a statement than a question.

He hesitated. "I don't like when you make me feel like an object, no." He paused. "I don't want to eat furry woodland creatures. You need to respect when I don't want to do something."

"…" Laura's eyebrows drew together. "'Furry woodland creatures?"

"Like Bambi's friends." He paused. "I'm guessing you have no idea who that is."

Laura gave him a flat look. "No, I do not."

"Never mind." He leaned back. "Just…I'm not having any, okay? Leave it at that."

She said nothing, only twirled the stick in the fire.

Several minutes passed in silence. And then Julian realized that a delicious smell was filling the cave. He tried to ignore it, looking away, but then his ears focused on the gentle sizzling sound. By the time Laura was beginning to test it for doneness, his stomach was growling, and he had forgotten what the meat used to look like before she had put it on the stick. "I guess it can't hurt to taste it." He paused. "Since you already…killed it."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "You have changed your mind?"

"No, I still think it's wrong." He paused. "Just less wrong than before."

"…" Her forehead wrinkled, but she tore off a piece and handed it to him.

* * *

After eating, they had more to drink at the lake, then took to the air, Julian careful to stay lower than the barrier. His head still ached slightly.

"This place is huge." Julian mumbled this, about an hour later. His arms were cramping from carrying Laura, even though he was supporting most of her weight with his mind. She was really freaking heavy. About four hundred pounds.

"Yes." Laura paused. "Stop."

He did, holding them steady in the air.

She looked to the right, then the left, her eyebrows drawing together. "Others."

"What? Really? _Where?_ "

"Nearby." She paused. "A male. And a female. I do not recognize them."

Julian began to take them to the ground.

"No!" she hissed. "We should be cautious. We do not know who brought us here."

"What? You think it was _them?_ "

Laura pressed a finger to her lips, and pointed up, to the tree above them.

He rolled his eyes but took them up and set her down into the crook of a large branch, close to the trunk, then perched on a nearby branch. The moment he stopped focusing on his telekinesis, he became keenly aware of the two minds approaching. Normally, he would stop himself there, almost without thinking about it. But Laura had a point. Right now, they didn't know _anything_. So he poked around. Just a little.

Hazmat. No, Jennifer. That was the girl's real name. She had some kind of radiation powers, lived in a hazard suit. The guy was Ken. He was a little harder to read. Probably his skin. Or his skeleton? Red metal…iridium, the girl knew. Something about invulnerability. Maybe that's what was making his thoughts fuzzy. Both of them were from a school. The Avengers Academy. He glanced at Laura, wishing he could just think this all at her. "We can trust them."

She wrinkled her nose.

He shrugged, then dropped out of the tree. "Hey, I'm—"

 _FWWAASSSHHH!_

Julian barely shielded himself in time. Before the yellowish green mist had even cleared, a figure swept past him, and he heard a _Snkkt!_ "No! Stop!" he shouted, grabbing Laura's arm and dragging her back.

"She _attacked_ you!" Laura's lip curled.

"I'm fine. It didn't go through my shield."

She held up her arm. The skin was bubbling.

"…" he grabbed her hand and tried to put out whatever reaction was occurring with his mind, but he couldn't. He dragged her out of the mist, back to the lake.

"Stop! Whatever I sensed last night is still here!"

"Yeah, well, you're in immediate danger, so we're going to take care of that first." He pulled her into the water, his eyebrows drawn together. Why had Hazmat tried to burn his face off? Why was _everything_ in here trying to take his face off? Maybe he should have done more mental poking. He shook his head slightly.

"I will heal—"

"Not if the reaction is still going." He paused. "Did it stop?"

Laura glanced at her arm.

The water behind them exploded very suddenly, as a mass of black reared into the air. Along with the loudest, strangest roar that Julian had ever heard, somewhere between a trumpet and a T-Rex roaring. He scrambled backward onto the bank, his eyes wide. For a moment, he couldn't speak.

The billowing creature surveyed them. He saw that it was made of…black smoke? And…electricity? It was huge, towering above them. And it didn't seem to have a head. Now it was making some kind of deep clicking noise. As if a metal chain were being wound up around some kind of gear wheel.

"I recognize it." Laura paused. "We should run."

"Wait, what?"

 _AAAAHHH-ROOOOO-OOOO-OOOOOO-OOO-OO-O—_ a strange siren sound echoed through the air.

"RUN!" Laura shouted as the thing thundered toward them, now making sounds like that of a rollercoaster about to come off the tracks.

Julian realized he was never going to outfly it, so he dropped to the ground and covered his head with his hands. The ground shook, and he felt a sharp blast of wind pass over him. Then the thing made a long last snarling sound that faded into nothing.

He sat up. "What. The. Fuck."

Laura paused. "I believe it—"

In the distance: _"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH OHMYGOD SANTO RUN!"_

" _HOLY—"_

They traded looks, then they were in the air.

"Tell me when you hear them!" Julian said, his voice filled with panic.

"To the north."

"And which way is north?!"

 _AAAAHHH-ROOOOO-OOOO-OOOOOO-OOO-OO-O_

"Never mind." Julian changed their direction slightly. The sounds were growing louder. He heard that rollercoaster sound again, and more screams. Then they were there, flying over the _thing,_ toward Santo, who was clearly its target.

"IT'S GOT ME!" he shouted, seeing Julian.

"Break apart! _"_ Julian yelled back.

"But—it's got my _legs!_ "

"You're made of _rocks!_ You can always get more!"

Santo clawed at the bank as the thing began to engulf him with black smoke, as if it were eating him. Laura swept her claws through it, and Cessily was trying to wrap her arms around to wrestle it away, but neither were successful, and it didn't even register as physical matter to Julian's brain, so he couldn't move it. Then, at the last moment, when it was about to swallow his friend's torso, he brought his metal fists down on his back.

 _BLAM!_

"NO!" Cessily screamed, as Santo shattered into pieces. The black mass tore away the chunk it had bitten, and suddenly it swept into the forest, making noises like a rattle snake.

"…" Santo looked up at Julian and grinned. "Thanks, man."

Julian crouched down. "When did you guys get here?"

"Sometime last night." Santo paused, then his upper body reformed, with a muffled scraping sound. "Any of ya see some good rocks around? Like, the body-worthy kind?"

Laura shook her head. "We are surrounded by forest. Perhaps you could use minerals from the soil?"

"Nah, not goin' to make a new body out of no wimpy minerals." Sant pushed his torso up with his arms. "I guess I could rearrange some shit here, but I'd look stupid as hell. Like a toothpick."

"Laura, did you _see_ what that was?!" Cessily asked, seeming to finally get over her shock enough to notice her friend's presence.

"Yes."

"DUDE!" Cessily's eyes widened, and she grabbed Laura's arms, shaking her slightly. "Do you know what this means?! Maybe it was _real!_ Maybe it _all happened!_ "

Julian folded his arms. "So, either of you feel like sharing?"

"That was the smoke monster from _Lost_." Santo paused. "God dammit. Hate that I know that."

Cessily raised her eyebrows. "I thought you liked _Lost._ "

"Er, I love _Lost._ " Santo glanced at Julian. "Best thing ever."

"Wait." Julian's forehead wrinkled. "That thing was from a _TV show?!_ "

"Yes." Laura paused. "It is dangerous. My claws did nothing to it."

"Strong chompers, too." Santo sighed. "Goin' to be awkward to walk like this."

"Don't be stupid." Julian raised his hand.

Santo floated up to his normal height. "Cool!"

"Where are my clones?" Laura's eyes were wide.

Julian's forehead wrinkled, and he looked at Cessily. "Please tell me they aren't here."

"I don't know!" Cessily's orange eyebrows drew together. "We were out on the lawn for a little bit after you left…then we all headed inside except when I stepped in—"

"You were in the middle of a savannah?" Julian guessed.

"No, we were by the ocean. A sandy beach." Cessily paused. "Then we got attacked by a bunch of little frog people—"

"Murlocs." Santo paused. "From this game I play sometimes."

"Right." Cessily rolled her eyes. "Because the rest of us none-geeks are _totally_ going to get what those are."

Julian gave them a flat look. " _The girls._ "

"It was just totally crazy. Loud. Action everywhere. I never saw if they got pulled in with us or not." She paused. "The chief muckduck or whatever—"

"Murloc." Santo grunted.

" _Or whatever_ had this staff that shot lightning bolts…and I was basically useless against it, you know I conduct electricity like crazy…so I wasn't able to think about anything else. Then we got chased into this huge tornado zone…and then we wound up here, getting attacked by the smoke monster." Cessily frowned. "We should go back."

"Yeah we should." Julian glanced at Laura, took her hand in his and squeezed gently. "I'm sure they're fine. If they're here, we'll find them. Don't worry."

She said nothing, but her eyebrows were drawn together.

He made a fist with his free hand, and the four rose several feet into the air. "So what direction is this beach in?"

"South." Santo grinned. "Wait. Forgot you're kinda navigationally challenged." He pointed.

Julian rolled his eyes.

* * *

"There!" Laura was pointing at the beach below them. "Julian! Set us down!"

She was drifting through the air alongside Julian, who was holding her hand, Santo and Cessily floating in their wake.

"Yeah, relax, I see it." He began to descend, toward the series of small footprints on the beach, along the shore, disappearing every now and again as they entered the water. "Don't see them. Or sense them. They must be out of my range."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "Follow the footprints."

"Yep." He squeezes her hand. "It's okay. They're trained for combat, remember."

She closed her eyes. "I do not want them to…have to use their training."

"I'm so sorry, Laura." Cessily put a hand on her shoulder. "It's all my fault. I—"

"No." Laura shook her head. "This is no one's fault but mine. I should—"

"It's no one's fault, period." Julian paused. "Except whoever brought all of us here in the first place. It is most fucking definitely _their_ fault."

"Yeah." Santo pointed at the ground. "What's that?"

Laura followed his rock finger and saw a sandy lump below, almost at the water line. Along with a number of deep gouges in the sand. "Lower us."

Julian brought them down to the shore, his eyebrows drawing together as he reached out and unearthed the lump. It was Alice's toy octopus.

Laura's forehead wrinkled. The clones' footprints ended here. Either they had been attacked and taken here or had entered the water and not returned.

"Can you smell them?" he asked.

She shook her head. "They have the same scent-cloaking modifications that I do."

There was a deep grating noise, a few feet away. They looked and saw Santo reassembling his missing appendages from several large boulders nearby.

"What?" he asked. "Gotta make sure I'm ready to kick ass."

"Yeah." Julian frowned. "Okay. I think we should keep going, along the shore. All we know is, they didn't turn back. Maybe I'll pick up something on the way."

"Sounds like a plan." Cessily patted Laura's shoulder. "We'll find them. Promise."

She looked down but nodded slightly.


	37. Chapter 37 - Murderworld

**Author's Note:** To those of you who have PM'd me, I appreciate your enjoyment of my work and apologize for the delay in updates. I have no intentions to abandon this story. However, I had serious real life matters to attend to. Among other difficulties, two members of my family nearly passed away, of separate causes (my father, and my cat). It was a very traumatic time for me, and writing was the last thing on my mind for a while. At the present moment things have calmed down/they both seem to have recovered. Please be warned that the next chapter may be delayed if there are negative real life developments. Also, I am planning to undergo a very minor surgery at the end of the month, and that will definitely result in some delays as well (just posting that now just in case I don't get to update again beforehand). So cross your fingers that I recover quickly! :) Anyways, here is the next installment. I hope you all continue to enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 37  
 _Murderworld_

* * *

"Beach ends here." Julian was standing on the point, his arms folded. "You want to go back, or up into the jungle again?"

He was addressing Laura, who was gazing out at the water, her back to him.

"Inland." Laura paused. "They would not return to an area they had abandoned." Her voice lingered on the last word.

Julian sighed and stepped closer to her, wrapped his fingers around her upper arms. "Laura. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I told you that I do not want to be separated from my clones again." Her voice was quiet.

He frowned. "You can't be with them every moment. And you weren't even that far away. How—"

"I am still responsible for them." She paused. "I am failing as their guardian."

"No. I'm responsible, too."

"They are _my_ clones."

"Yeah, and I want to help you raise them." He paused. "That means you're not alone with this. Or with anything else. Okay?"

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "No. They are—"

"You said you wanted to do this for real." He gave her a firm look. "They're part of you, so they're part of me too. You _know_ that. Now quit fighting me on this so we can actually _look_ for them."

She hesitated, then nodded slightly.

"Guys! I hear someone up here!" Santo yelled, from the edge of the jungle, where he and Cessily were already beginning to search. "But you pro X-men probably knew that already, huh?"

Laura exchanged a glance with Julian, then headed toward the jungle, her forehead wrinkled, head tilted as she focused on her hearing. Yes. Voices. Familiar. But not her clones. She looked at him again. "It is—"

Z _zzzipppp._

"KELLER!" Nori was suddenly standing right in front of Julian, amid a cloud of sand, sparks crackling all around her form.

"Jesus, Ashida! I almost had a heart attack." He paused. "Did you see who got you? Laura and I were in the elevator, and—"

 _BAM!_ as she slammed her blurry, gauntlet-covered fist into his face. _CRUNCH!_

"WHA—" Julian clutched at his nose as it burst into a bloody fountain.

"YouresuchapieceofSHIT!" Nori shouted. "Hertoo!" She pointed at Laura, her lip curled into a snarl.

 _Snkkt!_ Laura barely had time to pop her claws, then she was being slammed backward into the sand. She swiped at the air, but Nori was already gone, doubling back and hitting Julian with a bolt of electricity.

"URGGH—" he stumbled backward, his shield spreading over his skin but doing little against the attack. He fell on his behind.

Nori was already attacking Laura again. The latter dodged the first bolt, but the second impacted with her claw and sent a massive wave of energy arcing through her metal bones. She fell backwards on the sand as well, twitching, watching as Julian struggled to get up.

He did not seem to notice the fin gliding through the water behind him.

"RRRAWWRRR!" as the shark charged out of the water, only to meet Santo's fist.

"Hey, is that the thing that interrupted your date?!" Cessily asked, as she scooped Laura up.

 _Zzziipp!_

"Thing?!" Nori was standing in front of them again, baring her teeth. " _Thing?!_ Howabout another _woman_ thatthesetwohavefuckedover,huh?!"

"Oh come _off_ it Nori!" Cessily snapped. "It's not like you've ever even been on a date with Julian, he just—"

 _ZAPPP!_

"AHHHHGH!" Cessily screamed, unable to let go of Laura. They fell again to the sand, completely overwhelmed.

"ENOUGH!" Julian was stomping toward Nori, his hand outstretched. "Calmb down or I'm gonna _pud_ you down."

Nori seemed unable to move. She glared at Laura, her eyes flashing.

Santo was still fighting the shark in the background. She had managed to rip off one of his arms, but it still seemed like he was succeeding in pinning her down against the sand. She was struggling extremely hard. "Damnit Jules! Why you always gotta pick the crazy girls who _suck_ to fight, huh?" he roared.

"…" Julian reached Nori. "You hab…" he paused, closed his eyes. _Crunch!_ as his nose straightened. "You have two options. One, you stop attacking your friends and behave like an _adult,_ or two, I _make_ you. Pick."

"Howabout…fuckyou!" Nori let out an arc of electricity which turned into a rapidly expanding dome.

When it was finally over, Julian, Laura and Cessily were rolling in the sand, making incoherent sounds, and Nori was nowhere to be seen.

Santo peered down at them. "Man, you guys okay?"

"…" Laura was the first to recover. She sat up. "Where did the shark go?"

"Nori grabbed it an' ran off. Probably the jungle." Santo gave her a hand up. "I ain't ever seen her that pissed. Well, not since the stuff with Lady Deathstrike." He paused. "That was an ass kickin' if I ever did see one. Kinda impressed."

"I still…" Julian, who was still lying in the sand, tilted his head back and closed his eyes. "I still don't get how Nori broke my hold like nothing. I was using _telepathy._ She shouldn't have been able to think past it, let alone attack me."

"She's done a lot of training over the years. Maybe some of her control is instinct, y'know?" Cessily sat up. "By the way, do you have any more crazy exes you'd like to tell us about, Julian? Just so I can prepare myself."

"Oh shut up." He paused. "The only other girl I ever dated was Sofia. But even if she was here, she wouldn't attack us."

Laura hesitated. "You did not part on good terms."

"Huh?" His forehead wrinkled.

"When Logan introduced me to all of you in the recreation room, you had made her and Nori angry." She raised an eyebrow. "I later encountered you in the hallway, attempting to apologize. But I do not think you succeeded."

"…" Julian closed his eyes. "Yeah. Shit. I forgot." He paused. "Well, she doesn't have powers anymore. So there's that."

"Please promise me you're never goin' to piss off X, dude." Santo frowned. "I can't even die an' I'm legit scared of her bein' mad at us."

Cessily rolled her eyes, got to her feet, then looked at Laura. "Ignore them."

"Would Nori hurt my clones?" Laura asked.

"No. She's a lot of things but not _that_." Julian sat up. "Speaking of. We need to shake this off and get going again."

Santo grinned. "Actually, think we're just waitin' on you."

"…" Julian stumbled up, swayed, then caught himself before anyone else could. "Well, I'm good, so we can go now."

* * *

An hour later, Julian held up his hand.

They had been walking through the jungle, as he had developed an extreme headache from the earlier fight. There had been a few interesting instances, involving Santo getting scooped up into a net trap, and Laura being stung by a wasp with a scorpion tail, but nothing that had ultimately stopped their progress through the area.

"I do not detect anything." Laura paused, looked at him. "You are sensing someone telepathically?"

Julian nodded. "Can't tell who yet. Just sense two presences, up ahead."

"Hope they're friendlies." Santo paused. "Or strangers. That means Jules won'tve had a chance to piss 'em off yet."

"Shut up." Julian shook his head. "I don't piss off _that_ many people." He paused. "Not anymore."

Laura glanced at him. "That is untrue. You recently angered both Nori and Iara."

"…" he glared back at her. "Fine, blame _everything_ on me. I'm obviously the jerk here."

"Obviously." Cessily sighed. "Any closer to a friend or foe prognosis?"

"Hang on." Julian closed his eyes, then his face relaxed. "Friends. James and Hepzibah."

"Ugh, shiny girl."

"Shut up, Cess."

Laura could hear sticks and leaves crunching now, signifying their approach. She withdrew her claws with a _snakt_ and folded her arms. She was impatient to continue pursuing her clones, but she knew that James would likely assist them. Perhaps they could divide into groups and cover more ground.

"Hey guys." James emerged from the nearby bushes, followed by Hepzibah, who was crouching slightly and scanning them with narrowed eyes. "Good to see familiar faces." The former was wearing a dress shirt and a loosened tie, while Hepzibah was wearing a black, one-piece dress.

"Same." Julian frowned. "Did you see who brought you here?"

"Nope." James shrugged. "We were going through a door at a restaurant—"

"He gave me a shiny trinket." Hepzibah interrupted loudly, raising her hand. She was holding a ring between her index finger and thumb. "It is only gold and some squished carbon. Barely worth mentioning."

"Yet you mentioned it anyway." Cessily mumbled, then stopped and grabbed Hepzibah's wrist. "Wait—is that a _ring?!_ "

"Yes, do you want it?" Hepzibah sounded bored. "Like I said it's worthless, but if you're just starting your shiny box—"

"What? No, Hep—remember what we talked about? You need to keep it." James glanced at the group, grinning. "Yeah. So, we got engaged. Just before this, actually."

"He mentioned some sort of earth life-bonding ritual." Hepzibah flicked her tail. "I figured, why not? Then all the shinies he owns will technically be mine too. He has some vibranium, you know. His daggers."

Cessily looked at James now. "Yeah, why not?"

"She's joking." James paused. "Right, Hep?"

"No, why would I joke about that?" Hepzibah rolled her eyes. "Earthlings. You're all so _weird._ I'm never going to get the hang of this stupid planet."

"Well…congrats, I guess." Julian eyed his friend. "Speaking of your daggers, you happen to have them?"

"Nope." James paused. "Not a big deal. I can still fight." He frowned. "You run into anyone who needs fighting?"

"Not seriously. I don't think anyone here is actually bad. Just confused." Julian looked at Santo, who had begun snickering. "What?"

Pause. Santo shrugged. "They didn't look confused to me."

"…" Julian closed his eyes.

"I am searching for my clones. They were also brought here, separately from us." Laura said this loudly, her voice firm. "Will you assist me?"

"Oh, shit." James glanced at Hepzibah. "You're always bragging about your tracking skills…help out?"

Hepzibah flicked her tail. "I am a Scent Master, level 5, yes. But you'd have to make it worth my while."

"The clones do not have a scent." Laura.

Hepzibah arched her eyebrows. "Don't be ridiculous. _Everything_ has a scent."

"They have a scent masking treatment." Laura could not help sounding slightly irritated. "Like I do."

" _Your_ clumsy human excuse for a scent organ might not be able to pick up their trail, but _mine_ can." Hepzibah paused. "You all smell like slowly rotting meat bags to me. I have to constantly ignore my screaming senses just in order to function."

Cessily rolled her eyes and looked at James. "Gosh, your fiancé is _such_ a lovely person. You must be so excited to spend the rest of your life with her."

James grinned. "Thanks."

"So, you are saying you can track my clones?" Laura paused. "We have an item we could provide." She reached into her bulging jacket pocket and pulled out Alice's octopus.

"I could." Hepzibah's tail flicked, and she folded her arms. "For a price."

"I cannot give you adamantium." Laura's nose wrinkled. "It is bonded to my skeleton."

"That's unfortunate." Hepzibah's tone was cool.

"Come on, Hep. They're friends." James frowned. "You understand that…I know you do." He touched her hand. "For me?"

Hepzibah made an exasperated sound, throwing her hands in the air. "Fine! Whatever! Give me pretend valuables, make me perform free services, next thing I know you'll be asking me to provide you with disgusting hybrid offspring!" She stomped off, her tail flicking in displeasure.

"That ring is my grandma's." James said this in a small voice. "I explained it had sentimental value. She called it a 'pretend currency.'"

Julian hesitated. "So is she tracking, or…"

"Yes I'm tracking! Hurry _up!"_ Hepzibah shouted. "You think you stupid humans would be more aware of time considering how short your lives are…"

Julian glanced at Laura, grinning slightly.

She sensed he was thinking of their conversation in the Collector's ship, in which she had referenced Hepzibah, and he had called her 'a joke.' She gave him a small smile in return, but it faded quickly, as she was too concerned about her missing clones to concentrate on anything else.

* * *

"I am hungry!" Hepzibah announced, a little while later, abruptly sitting down in the middle of the path she had been walking. Julian and Cessily almost stumbled over her.

"We have not located my clones." Laura's voice was sharp.

"Well, I am not moving another inch until I eat."

"Hep, it's only been an hour since—" James tried.

"I did not eat anything there! The pasta-stuff you had me try tasted like the bonding epoxy paste I use for ship repairs."

Cessily rolled her eyes. "Which you had to eat at some point, to know how it tastes."

"Sorry guys." James sighed. "Give us a few."

Julian glanced at Laura. "We'll keep looking."

They proceeded in the direction Hepzibah had been leading them, Cessily and Santo following. So far, the jungle around them seemed undisturbed, still and silent except for the occasional flap of a bird wing, or a strange animal cry in the distance.

"Where the heck are they?" Julian mumbled this, as if to himself. "I've been scanning nonstop…and just nothing. I would say they weren't here, if we hadn't found evidence."

"Are you sure that your powers are not being suppressed?"

"Don't think so." He frowned. "I was able to sense those Avengers earlier…and then James and Hepzibah. The girls must be outside my range." Pause. "But just how _big_ is this place?"

"Big enough to have its own beach." Cessily hesitated. "I…I'm starting to wonder if this we're on an island. That someone made."

Laura looked at her. "For what purpose?"

"This is going to sound a bit nuts." She paused. "But I think it's for entertainment. It's just _weird_ that they would bring a whole bunch of people here who just _happen_ to know each other. Like your stalker shark, Julian. And Nori. And all these things from TV and games…the smoke monster…muckducks—"

"Murlocs." Santo grunted this.

Julian frowned. "Stalker shark?"

"Yes, shut up." Cessily rolled her eyes. "Anyways. I think whoever brought us here _wants_ us to fight. Like that book, _Hunger Games,_ y'know?"

"What?" Julian's forehead wrinkled. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"The thing where they bring all those kids to the arena to fight each other to the death. And it's full of all these extra death traps. And the girl uses a bow and arrows." Cessily looked at Santo, who shrugged at her with a confused expression. "Ugh. Am I seriously the only literate person here?"

"Can't speak for Santo, but Laura and I were a little too busy with trying to stay alive for _real._ " Julian paused. "But good point. That would make sense. If whoever's behind this is just trying to straight up kill us, it seems like a real waste of resources to go through all this effort."

"Yes." Laura hesitated. "How are they watching us?"

"…" Julian stopped, looked around. "That's a good question."

Cessily frowned. "In the book, it was cameras."

"Probably the same here, but real little ones." Santo grinned. "Might ask them for a copy of that beach fight."

Julian gave him a flat look. "I hate you."

Cessily gave Santo a superior look. "See? I'm _not_ the only one who finds you incredibly annoying."

 _AAAAHHH-ROOOOO-OOOO-OOOOOO-OOO-OO-O—_

"Where the hell did that come from?" Julian asked, his eyes wide.

Laura tilted her head, listening. "I think it is—"

Rattlesnake noises. The ground began shaking. A black puff of smoke appeared in the distance, approaching very quickly.

"Oh my god, _run!"_ Cessily shouted.

"Wait!" Laura pointed at the smoke monster. "That is—"

 _AAAAHHH-ROOOOO-OOOO-OOOOOO-OOO-OO-O—_ followed by the mechanical, chainlike, rollercoaster noises. This time, no one moved, all too busy staring at the small girl perched on what seemed like the smoke monster's back. They thundered past them, snaking through the trees, then were gone.

Julian's forehead wrinkled. "Was…was that _Betty?_ "

"Follow them!" Laura demanded.

A few moments later they were flying through the jungle, Julian using his shield to blast foliage out of his way. They could just barely see the smoky trail of the monster around the trees ahead.

"FASTER!" Laura shouted.

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

"You can go faster!"

Julian closed his eyes, trying to access that part of his mind that Frost had locked in order to keep his power levels in check, but he couldn't. Possibly because she had never re-locked it. Or maybe he couldn't operate on his own mind.

 _AAAAHHH-ROOOOO-OOOO-OOOOOO-OOO-OO-O—oo—o…_ the siren faded into the distance. Clearly, the smoke monster was long gone.

He set them down on the ground and bent over, breathing hard. "I'm sorry, I tried—"

"HELP!"

They all turned to see a familiar golden figure running toward them. Josh. His eyes were wide. "Please! You've got to help me! They're going to kill each other!"

"Wha—" Julian's eyebrows drew together.

Laura looked in the direction Josh had come from. Now that she was not focusing solely on Betty and the smoke monster, she could hear whatever Julian was sensing: Laurie, screaming at the top of her lungs, and the loud snarling of an enraged animal.

They began to run, Josh leading the way. After a few moments the jungle gave way to a small clearing, at the center of which was Laurie, surrounded by a shimmering mist. In front of her was a reddish-brown wolf, snarling and snapping.

"Laurie, STOP!" Josh shouted. "Rahne could kill you!"

"Shut up!" Laurie snapped.

Laura looked toward the wolf. _Snkkt!_

"No! Laura, that's a person." Julian reached out and grabbed the wolf with his mind. "A really _dangerous_ person, but we can't kill her."

"Let her GO!" Laurie was approaching them. "She stole my life from me! I want her to suffer like—"

"She is doing something. To the air." Laura closed her eyes, her lip curling. Her clawed hands formed fists at her sides. "I feel…it is like trigger…trigger scent…"

"Yeah…" Julian paused, fighting the urge to attack her, then looked at Laurie. A bubble formed around her.

"HEY!" She shouted, thumping her fists around the wall.

 _Snakt!_ Laura blinked. "Better."

The wolf had also backed off. It was now standing in the meadow area, shaking its head.

"So what's going on? Why are you trying to fight Rahne?" Julian asked Laurie. "You know what she can _do,_ right?"

Laurie pointed a finger at Josh. "Ask _him!_ "

Josh buried his face in his hands. "This is embarrassing. I…a _long_ time ago, when we were like sixteen and dating, I kissed Rahne and—"

"Are you serious?" Julian gazed at Laurie. "I've fucking watched Rahne _eat_ someone alive! And you're willing to antagonize her because of that stupid high school drama?!"

Now everyone was staring at _him._

He paused, then his lip curled as he decided he didn't care. "Yeah. So seriously, stop fucking around."

Laurie glared at him and folded her arms, but there was a hint of uncertainty to her expression now.

"This just compounds my entertainment theory." Cessily mumbled this.

Laura nodded slightly.

"Fucking around?" James called, from the edge of the clearing, where he and Hepzibah had just appeared. "Haven't heard you drop an f-bomb in a while, what happened?"

" _That._ " Julian pointed to the wolf in the clearing, who was beginning to shapeshift, now more of a humanoid figure with a head. "She was basically poking her with a stick."

"Damn." James paused. "Yeah, I wouldn't mess with Rahne if it were me."

Hepzibah belched, and a couple of feathers floated out of her mouth.

Cessily shook her head. "She's like a bad cartoon character."

Santo grinned. "Least she's hot."

"…" she stared at him.

Hepzibah's tail flicked. "I have eaten and am ready to resume tracking."

Laura pointed toward the trees. "We saw Betty travelling in—"

 _BOOM!_ The ground shook around them as a comet-like thing impacted the ground in the middle of the clearing.

"What _now?_ " Cessily asked.

"YOU MAY REJOICE!" A voice echoed through the trees. The comet was standing up now, a young man, with grayish skin, a bright red mohawk, and matching red sunglasses. He was grinning widely. "I have arrived."

"And who the fuck are _you?"_ Julian demanded, through gritted teeth.

The newcomer's eyebrows raised. "You would dare address an imperial prince directly?"

Cessily rolled her eyes. "He _would._ "

"I am KID GLADIATOR, son of Gladiator, Emperor of the Sh'iar!" Pause. "But I also hail to Kubark. You cannot call me that, of course."

Santo waved. "Nice to meetcha, Kubark."

Kubark's eyes narrowed. "What did I just—"

"Oh _please._ " Hepzibah rolled her eyes. "Gladiator is just Praetor of the Imperial Guard. There's no _way_ you're prince."

"Am so!" Kubark folded his arms against his chest, which was covered by a red and black uniform of some sort. "My father has reunited the fractured empire, after Vulcan nearly destroyed it. He is now emperor. And I, his son, am of royal blood." He pointed at her. "Bend the knee!"

Hepzibah's tail flicked. "Two syllables for a name. You're not even as gray as I am. _Forget it_."

"Not as gray as you?" Kubark stared at her. "With your sickly, sun-damaged pallor? Lowly earthling! I will smash you into obedience!"

"Earthling?! I AM NO EARTHLING!" Hepzibah's tail flicked. "COME AT ME BITCH!"

"Hep—" James began, but it was too late, as Kubark was already charging them, fast, some kind of aura building around him. Hepzibah squealed and dove into the jungle. Julian grabbed Laura's hand and dragged her into the air, along with several of the others.

They watched as he chased after the other alien, followed closely by James, who was swearing under his breath.

"That was…" Josh scratched his head. "I give up, what _was_ that?"

"I don't even want to know." Julian glanced at Laura again. "We need to find the girls _now_ and get the hell out of here, or—"

"I WILL SMASH YOU!" Kubark was returning, knocking trees out of his way with his fists. "ALL OF YOU! FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!"

Julian took one look and began flying blindly in the other direction as fast as he could, just above the level of the trees, dragging the others in his wake. The beach was just in sight when a bolt of electricity came out of nowhere.

"NO—" Laura grabbed his hand and found herself trying to maneuver herself to shield his fall, yet again. But the impact was softer this time, as his momentum carried them over the edge of the trees, and they crashed down into the sand below.

"Ugh…" Julian was clutching his upper arm, his metal hand glowing green. _Crunch!_ as the bone straightened. "What was that? Nori?"

"No." Laura sat up. "It was—"

"The stupid muckducks!" Cessily groaned, pointing to a group of small, humanoid figures approaching them. They had scales, vaguely froglike heads, and webbed hands and feet, clutching spears.

" _Murlocs._ " Santo grunted this from where he sat in a pile of rubble.

"Fuck this day." Julian squeezed his eyes shut. "Why did I ever think I could have a normal life? What is wrong with me—"

Laura scrambled upwards and began to run. "Alice!" she called.

He looked up sharply, then shot after her.

Alice was standing in the middle of the group. On her head was an elaborate head dress made of what looked like grass, and around her shoulders was tied the pelt of a tiger. She was holding a small stick of wood. On the end of this stick was an elaborately carved octopus.

Laura swept her off her feet and hugged her tightly, her eyebrows drawn together. "I was—"

"Release me!" Alice yelped. "I am Queen of the Frog People!"

Julian, who had been about to hug her as well, noticed that the creatures were crowding around them, as if to attack. "Uh…"

Laura drew back and gave Alice a firm look.

Alice sighed, then looked at the creatures and made a series of strange squawking noises. They stopped and slammed their staffs into the sand, as if heeding an order.

Julian's eyebrows drew together. "Do you know where your sisters are?"

"The Queen of the Frog People does not have sisters." Alice said this calmly. "I am unique and magnificent—" she caught Laura's eye, and seemed to deflate. "Gabby's in my village. We…we tied her up so she would stop trying to leave."

"Alice!" Laura closed her eyes. "You have been very, _very_ bad."

"But we can talk about that later." Julian folded his arms. "Tell us exactly where to find Gabby."

"Guys!" Santo shouted.

Kubark burst out of the jungle and looked around. He saw them and started in their direction, then paused and looked to the side, at the water. His eyebrows raised, and a grin spread over his face. "I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MUCH AQUA!" A moment later, he was crashing headfirst into the waves.

"…" Julian rubbed his face with his hands. "Take us to Gabby, Alice."

* * *

"She is there." Alice pointed to the small straw hut.

Laura glanced at Julian, then entered the space. _Snkkt!_

A moment later, she returned, carrying Gabby, whose face was contorted and covered with tears. "I t-t-told her!" she cried. "I told her you would want to p-punish us if—"

"I was only pretending!" Alice protested, her eyebrows drawing together. "The frogs invited me to be their queen and I was intrigued—"

"Stop. We're not punishing anyone." Julian paused, looked at Laura. "Right?"

Laura placed Gabby on the ground, then knelt down herself and surveyed her clones, her expression serious.

Alice looked down, her chin trembling.

"Apologize to Gabby." Laura paused. "Then you will assist me in finding Betty."

"There has never been an individual as sorry as I!" Alice exploded, also falling to her knees in front of Gabby, and wringing her hands together. "I deserve self-punishment, level one hundred! No, one _thousand!_ I shall gather tarps so large—"

Julian snorted and looked away quickly.

Laura closed her eyes. "Alice. Be quiet."

Alice fell silent.

"We must find Betty." Gabby looked at Laura in concern, her forehead wrinkled. "She ran off on her own and I…I don't like this place."

"Yes." Laura reached out and embraced her clones briefly. "Please stay near me from now on." She rose to her feet and looked at Julian again, her eyebrows arched.

"What?" he asked defensively. "It was like watching some Shakespeare play or something." He paused. "I…I've had a long day."

"Yes." She touched the tops of Gabby's and Alice's heads, then headed back toward the main group where Laurie, Josh, Cessily, and Santo were waiting.

"Oh thank god, there's two of them." Cessily murmured.

"And we know Betty was in the jungle. With the smoke monster." Julian paused. "I think we need to go back in…maybe try the lake we first found it in?"

"Follow the smoke to the monster, thank you."

Everyone turned to look at the speaker, a girl with long, dark hair and a strip of yellow ribbon fastened securely around her head. Julian blinked. "Uh…Ruth? When'd you get here?"

Ruth smiled slightly. "I have always been and, I am sorry, always will be. We all are finally here. Ducks in a row, yes. Lambs?"

"…" Cessily stared at Ruth. "She's gone completely batshit."

"You mean she wasn't already?" Santo grunted.

"Follow the smoke to the monster. Excuse me, the puppet master pulls the strings. How we dance! Seeking to fill a hole that never fills. But, I am sorry, please don't forget your promise. It would be pointless anyway."

"That's…uh…" Julian's forehead wrinkled. "She's seeing the future. Smoke monster is going to show us how to get out of here." Pause. "I think. Her thoughts are really fragmented. There's something making her extra fuzzy."

"Fuzzy puppies. No you don't have to kill them." Ruth's eyebrows drew together. "Pardon me. A lot of threads…strings…tangling. Yes. Find the right one and pull it."

"Cool." Santo grunted this.

"Makes more sense than Deadpool." Josh paused. "When he had all the radiation damage going on, I mean."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Laurie folded her arms, her lip curling.

"Come on." Julian picked up Alice, as Laura picked up Gabby. "Let's go find Betty and get the hell out of this weird place."

* * *

Hepzibah stood for a moment, flicking her tail and gazing at the trees ahead. She had done this many times already, but now she was taking much longer than previously.

Laura tensed, focusing on her senses. She could detect it, too. There was a large, open space ahead, and in it were people. Many people. The others they had encountered. One newcomer that she did not recognize. She glanced at Julian.

His eyes were closed, and his forehead was wrinkled, but he kept going, approaching the edge of the trees.

"Julian—"

"Yeah." He swallowed, hefted Alice up. "I know." He paused. "We need to go. Find out what's going on." Pause. He turned to the others. "Be ready to fight."

Santo gave him a thumbs-up. " _Always_ ready for a rumble."

James nodded. "Right behind you."

"My clones are not—" Laura began, clutching Gabby tightly.

"Don't worry, we'll keep them safe." Cessily paused. "Besides, Josh is here."

"Yeah, no one gets hurt while _I'm_ around." Josh grinned.

Laura could detect adrenaline in his scent. He was nervous.

"Follow." Julian stepped out into the clearing, his expression stern as he studied the others standing in the clearing.

Laura stayed close behind him, her forehead wrinkling. She detected a familiar scent. Her eyes widened as she saw a woman with choppy blonde hair on the other side of the space. _Kiden._ She remembered that moment in the future, when Domino had pulled the trigger and blown her brains out across Stryfe's device. She had to restrain herself from running over to her. Now was not the time for reunions.

They had seen almost everyone else already, at one point or another. The radioactive woman, and the red man that had attacked them earlier. Two other strangers, a woman with a staff, and a younger girl wearing baggy clothes and a fuzzy pink hat. Then Kid Gladiator. Rahne. Iara, who glared at Julian. Her lip was curled, but she was no longer in shark form. Nori, who was looking over at another familiar figure: David. There was also a man in a black suit with wings, and a woman with dark hair and skin, and brightly patterned sleeves on an otherwise plain outfit. Lastly, a young, skinny man, with pink hair that was shaved in a mohawk. He glanced at them over his wire-rimmed glasses as they approached.

"Here comes the other half of the shit-show." His voice was somewhat nasal.

Julian eyed him warily. _"Fuck."_

Ruth frowned behind him. "Yes."

"What are we missing?" Cessily asked.

"That's Quentin Quire, remember?" Julian paused. "The reason the school got shut down, a bit after we first got there. He started that riot."

Santo grunted. "Looks like a lil punk to me."

"Didn't he host the Phoenix at one point?" Cessily asked.

"Yeah." Julian's forehead wrinkled, as he recalled the time she had found him in the danger room, right after said Phoenix steamrolled him.

Quire smiled slowly at him, probably reading his thoughts.

Julian tried to ignore this, but he passed Alice to Cessily.

"Now, now, children, there'll be enough time for fighting." A new voice said this, startling almost everyone. " _More_ than enough."

At the center of the clearing stood a man. He was of somewhat short stature, dressed in a white suit, but most striking was his wild mop of red hair, almost the same shade as Cessily's. He was grinning widely at them.

Santo frowned. "Why's Carrot Top here?" he asked loudly.

The man's smile faded. "I'm not…." He closed his eyes for a moment, obviously irritated. "Perhaps you've heard of me. My name is Arcade." Pause. He spread his arms. "Welcome to Murderworld."

Silence.

"Look around. Many of you may know each other. How many would you trust with your life?" He grinned again. "I'm not saying I'll kill you. Or that I'll make you kill each other. I can't _make_ you do anything. Wouldn't be much fun if I could." Pause. "But this is a game. A game that will crack you open and let the _real_ you out. The one you keep crammed down where no one else can see."

Hepzibah's tail twitched. "The hell is this earthling—"

Cessily stretched her arm out and clamped her hand over her mouth.

Arcade clapped his hands together. "Now, here are the rules. They're simple. Twenty-five of you entered. One leaves. That's all. Who gets to leave, you might ask?" He leaned forward. "You get to sort out that out among yourselves."

Laura closed her eyes.

"That doesn't sound so bad, does it?" Arcade paused. "Then again…Murderworld ain't exactly a walk in the park. There are some pretty good reasons you'll want to leave ASAP." Pause. "I know you're all just _dying_ to find out what those are…but I don't want to give too many spoilers, y'know?"

"He's insane." Cessily's eyebrows drew together. "Isn't he?"

"Don't know." Julian hesitated. "I can't read him."

Santo pounded one fist against the flat of his hand. "Let's kick _his_ ass then!"

Cessily held Alice at Hepzibah. "Hold her for a sec."

Hepzibah's nose wrinkled. "No thanks."

"Hep—" James's voice was sharp. "Please, just stay here."

Laura hesitated, then turned to Blindfold. "Please hold Gabby for me. Hide, in the jungle. I will find you later."

Blindfold smiled dreamily. "Yes. In the jungle, we all find ourselves." But she accepted Gabby and began to walk backwards into the trees.

Arcade watched as they approached with amusement. "Oh no. _I'm_ not one of the villains, kids. There's a reason I wear a white suit and no mask." Pause. "I'm the _god_ here."

 _Snkkt!_ Laura popped her claws, her eyebrows drawn together. She did not think they should kill him, but she was not against wounding him. Perhaps he would panic and release them. She followed Julian and James as they charged toward Arcade, the former sending a bright green wave of energy towards their target. A moment later, he was thrown backward by a matching blue wave emanating from Arcade. He shielded himself just in time but was not saved from being blown backward, into a tree at the edge of the clearing, which cracked and leaned into the surrounding forest.

"This sentinel tech is _tops!_ " Arcade held out his arms, which were now encased in large pink gloves. "Nimr-something. Nimor? Nimrod? There we go!"

Laura flew at him next, her claws sinking deep into his white suit. For a moment, she could feel his tissue tearing. Then a burning shock coursed through her system and she was falling into the grass, powerless to resist. She watched as James flew overhead, repelled by whatever Arcade was doing now. It reminded her of the fight with Selene. Hopeless. But others were joining the fight now. She shook her head slightly, rolled to her side and tried to sit up.

Julian was behind her, pulling her to her feet by her elbows. "Do you need Josh?"

Laura wiped the side of her mouth, which felt wet. Her hand came away bloody. He must have caught her with a blast of antimatter. She shook her head. "No. Fight now." Her voice sounded oddly distorted.

They charged back into the commotion. Arcade was at the center, grinning as he was hit on all sides by various powers, so many that she could not decipher them all. Santo and the red man and the girl with the baggy clothes and hat were all pummeling his sides. Nori was throwing bolts of lightning. The radioactive woman was blasting him with her green mist. Cessily was winding herself around his midriff like a boa constrictor. The woman with the patterned sleeves was shooting alternating blasts of fire and ice. The staff wielder was doing something that turned the ground to lava beneath his feet. Julian smashed his metal fist into his chest. Laura swiped with her claws, but they now grazed over his suit without penetrating, just like everything else. Overhead, the bird-man darted down like a hawk.

Arcade held up his hands. "ENOUGH!"

Everyone was dragged backward, to the edges of the clearing, by an invisible force. Laura looked down at the metal disc beneath her feet. Into this was etched a number. _8._ She could not move her limbs. She looked around and saw that they were now arranged in a circle, with Arcade at the center. Blindfold and Hepzibah were there too. As were the clones. Laura's eyes widened. She felt fear, but also relief, because Betty was there as well.

"Very good!" Arcade grinned. "Now…you've all seen that I'm not on the roster. But…I'm not a bad guy either. Not that I'm _good,_ but that's beside the point." Pause. "Everyone look down. Read your number out loud. Keep things honest."

Silence.

Arcade's grin faded. "READ THEM!" he roared.

"S-six." Laurie.

"Eleven." James.

"One." Santo.

"Three." Cessily.

"Four." Julian looked at Laura.

She hesitated. "Eight."

Iara glared at Julian. "Two."

"Seven." Hepzibah paused. "This is hardly acceptable. I demand nothing less than double dig—"

"Twenty!" Boomed Kid Gladiator, grinning. "Hah! Lowly earthling!"

"Five." The radiation woman.

"Nine." Josh.

"Fourteen." Rahne paused. "What is this? I was nae awake—"

"Ten." The individual Julian had called Quire.

"Twenty-four." The winged man.

"Twenty-five." The woman with the brightly patterned sleeves.

"Twenty-two." David, his voice flat.

"Twelve." Nori gritted her teeth and looked away from him.

"Eighteen." The red man paused. "Someone wanna read the blind girl's number for her?"

"Thirteen." Blindfold smiled slightly. "Thank you, no."

"Fifteen." The woman with the staff.

"Sixteen." Kiden, her nose wrinkled. She had gotten it pierced since Laura saw her last.

"Seventeen." The girl with the baggy clothes and the fuzzy hat. Her eyes were glowing pink. "Time out please…I have to go to the bathroom."

"Twenty-three." Gabby looked pointedly at her sisters. "Read your assignments."

"Nineteen." Alice.

Betty folded her arms. "Twenty-one."

Laura watched as droplets of blood landed on the disc beneath her feet. Her face was not healing. She closed her eyes.

Arcade was speaking again. "I'll go first. Show you I not only talk the talk, but I can walk the walk too. I'm going to pick one of those numbers. And then I'm going to kill the person standing on that disc. Even things up. Show you how the game's played." He held up a finger. "You have options though. If you don't like who I pick…if you disagree that they're the weakest link…you can volunteer yourself instead." Pause, again. "Five."

A moment of silence. Laura ran through the numbers. Five was the stranger, the radiation woman. She felt a moment of relief. Not Julian. Not the clones. Not Cessily, or Santo, or Kiden, or any of her other friends.

But five was not relieved. She was glaring at Arcade through her helmet, her gloved fingers flexing. "Oh yeah? Come and take me, asshole!"

"Gladly." Arcade reached out, and she flew to his hand, like a ragdoll, his fingers clamping around her throat. He held up the other Nimrod gauntlet, ready to blast her with antimatter, then paused. "No takers? We're all happy with my choice? Hazmat kicks the bucket? Speak up, or forever hold your peace."

"Wait!" The red man raised his hand. "I'll—I'll take her place. I volunteer."

"Aww." Arcade grinned. "How noble. Mettle shows his mettle. Get over here." He reached out again, and the red man was pulled to his hand.

Hazmat shook her head. "N-no…Ken…don't…" she wheezed.

"The only one that doesn't get a say is number five!" Arcade threw Hazmat aside, clasping both his hands on Mettle's skull. Then they began to glow, pink. "You can say some last words. If you want." He paused. "If you're able to. You're probably not able to."

"Hnkk—" Mettle struggled.

 _FWASH._

"NO!" Hazmat screamed, scrambling up. But it was too late. Mettle had been completely disintegrated, nothing left but lightly glowing ashes.

Arcade dusted off his hands, the Nimrod gauntlets melting away. "One down, twenty-three to go! Just think. _Any_ of you could be the lucky winner." Pause. He kicked the pile of ashes, and they drifted against the window of Hazmat's helmet. "Well…like they say, watched pot never boils, so I'm just going to pop out and let you get to it." And then he was gone, having vanished into thin air.

 _CLICK,_ the discs from beneath their feet.

Laura was the first to move, her brows drawing together as she headed for the clones. On either side, the persons surrounding the girls—David, Kid Gladiator, and the birdman—did not move, only watching as she collected her three charges and herded them off the platforms. She had barely finished doing so when Julian grabbed her hand and lifted them into the sky.

* * *

"This is bad." Cessily was sitting, holding her knees. "Really bad."

"Yeah." Santo paused. "I don't get why Arcade even brought you an' me. We're immortal. What's even the point? Doesn't that mean no one will win?"

" _Santo!"_ Cessily glared at him. "I meant, we have to go back. We can't just leave them there. Some of them are our _friends._ Julian, take us back right now."

"Shhh." Julian was kneeling in front of Laura, examining her damaged cheek. "He got you bad. It's not healing." He paused. "I need to try patching it."

She closed her eyes, nodded slightly.

He pressed his fingers against the wound.

She winced, then the glow began. "Uggh…"

"Almost done." Julian's forehead wrinkled. Then the glow faded, and he ran his fingertips over the area. "Not perfect, but it'll do till we find Josh." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She kept thinking: what if his number had been called? Or one of the clones? She knew that she would have volunteered, taken their place, but it still troubled her. She looked down at the three girls, all of who were leaning against her, having nodded off, exhausted. Finding the cave again had taken a while, and it was growing dark outside.

"So we're going back?" Cessily asked.

"No." Julian frowned. " _I'm_ going back. You lot are going to stay here, where you'll be safe."

"No—" Laura began.

"Yeah." He gave her a firm look. "One of us always needs to be with the girls." He glanced at Santo. "Don't kid yourself. This piece of shit knows what he's doing. He's got a way to kill you too. Guaranteed."

Laura closed her eyes. "Who will you bring back?"

"Josh. James. Hepzibah. Ruth." He paused. "Laurie. Rahne. Nori and David, if they want to come. Not sure if I trust the others."

"That's a lot of people." Cessily hesitated. "You think we can find a way out?"

"Maybe." Julian squeezed Laura's hand. "I'll be back. I love you."

She hesitated, her eyebrows drawing together. "Wait. There is one more."

He looked surprised. "Who?"

"Kiden." Laura lowered her gaze. "Number sixteen." Pause. She knew he may not remember all of the individuals by their numbers. His memory was not as proficient as hers. "Short, blond hair."

"You can trust her?"

She nodded. "She is…a friend of mine."

Julian patted her on the shoulder. "Okay."

"Thank you." She murmured this.

He nodded, then was gone.


	38. Chapter 38 - Play the Game

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Ugh, surgery tomorrow morning, gulp. The next update will probably take at least a week or two if all goes well (knock on wood), as I will need to write and edit, and anticipate being down for a while. Hope you all enjoy! :)

* * *

CHAPTER 38

 _Play the Game_

* * *

Julian gazed at the sky ahead as he flew, his mouth fixed into a frown. What he had witnessed today in Arcade's ring gave him a sinking feeling in his stomach. They were all in danger. Real danger. Maybe even as much as when they had saved Hope in the dead-end future. The only other being he'd ever seen adapt to attacks the way Arcade had was Bastion. Selene, Kimura, even Stryfe had been tough, seemed invulnerable, but in the end, they all had had specific weaknesses. Faults. He could only hope Arcade did, too. The world couldn't handle another Bastion.

How were they going to get out of this one? Rely on rescue by Logan? But more than half of the team was already here. _He_ was here. What could the rest do that they couldn't? Yes, they had more experience, but in terms of firepower, he knew the more senior X-men would likely be just as helpless as when they had fought Stryfe.

At least they had found the girls. He thought about how it would have felt to still be searching for Betty, knowing what he knew now. He thought of that horrible moment where he'd seen Arcade blast Laura with pink energy. The same energy that had once turned her into a melting puddle in his arms. He had barely gotten her to Josh in time. The damage now had been bad, her entire cheek and part of her shoulder a mess, but nothing compared to _that._ Plus, he had been able to mend some of the deeper gaps, enough so that she shouldn't be at risk of death anytime soon. And yet, if she had been an inch or two to the right when Arcade blasted her, she would already be dead. Like Mettle.

They had to get out of here. Soon.

He flew up near the barrier and examined it, racking his mind, trying to see if the Dr. McCoy in his head would chime in with something helpful, but nothing came. Eventually he lowered his altitude again, now scanning for signs of the others.

He had been surprised by Laura's request that he bring someone back. She had never mentioned having a friend outside the school before. It wouldn't seem so strange to him if she was anyone else. But she had spent most of her life in the facility. He had assumed that prior to coming to the school, she had little human contact besides her aunt and cousin, so the existence of another friend was pretty interesting. Where did they meet? How far did they go back? Did they have things in common? Questions he assumed he would know the answer to shortly.

After several minutes of flying alternated with mental scanning, he sensed James and Hepzibah. They were running away from the clearing, crashing through the dense foliage, with no goal except getting as far away from Arcade as they could. _Stop!_ He shouted at them, adjusting his path for interception. A few moments later he was touching down in front of James. "Did you see where Josh went?"

"Don't answer him!" Hepzibah snapped.

They looked at her, foreheads wrinkling.

"Huh?" James asked.

"We're _competitors!_ " She sounded exasperated. "You heard Arcade. Only one of us can leave."

"Hep…" James stared at her. "By that logic, _we're_ going to have to kill each other."

She folded her arms. "Well, _I'm_ not dying in this stupid place. I figured you'd self sacrifice."

"…" James seemed stunned.

"Neither am I." Julian tried to sound calm and logical. Obviously, the pair had some major issues to work through, but they didn't have time for that now. "That's why we need to work together. Figure out how to take him down and bust out. We have a cave a little way from here that we can hide out in till we're ready." He wished he could leave Hepzibah out, since he was beginning to have misgivings about her, but he knew James wouldn't stand for it. Not without thinking about it for a while first, at least.

Hepzibah glanced at him, flicked her tail. "And I should trust you _why?_ "

" _I_ trust him." James paused. "And that should be enough for you, too." He glanced at Julian. "Come on. We're ready."

"I need to find more people first. The other X-men." Julian saw that Hepzibah was about to protest. "Safety in numbers."

James nodded.

She remained quiet, although her tail flicked several times in what he interpreted as displeasure.

* * *

An hour later, Julian was still flying. In addition to James and Hepzibah, he had taken Josh, Laurie, and Rahne back to the cave already, as well as David, who had seemed surprised at the offer but had accepted almost immediately. He hadn't been able to find either Ruth or Nori, the latter of which he suspected was purposely avoiding him. He'd mostly given up searching, figuring that they could find him when they were ready. But he _was_ still looking for Laura's friend, Kiden.

He was tired and just about to give up when he noticed a small glow on the ground below. He slowed down to a hover and focused on scanning the minds around him. There! He swept down and landed beside the fire, catching a glimpse of a woman with choppy blond hair and what looked like multiple piercings. She gave him a startled look, then disappeared. Completely.

Julian blinked and looked around, confused. He closed his eyes and scanned for her mind again, but she had dropped off that grid, too. He reached up and rubbed his face with his palms, thinking that he probably should have asked Laura what her powers were. After a few minutes of silence, he decided to just speak his piece and move on.

"Um, hello…Kiden, right?" He paused, looked around the small campsite. The fire crackled at him, but there was no other sound. "I'm Julian…Laura asked me to find you. We have a safe place where we're meeting up, to try and figure a way out of here."

No answer.

"It's…a cave, this way." He pointed in its rough direction with his metal finger. "It's really hard to see, so if you're looking for us, just yell. One of us will hear you." He paused. "We, uh, hope you join—"

"One more word asshole and I snap your neck! How do you know I know Laura, huh?!"

Julian started. "What the—" Kiden was suddenly behind him, and she did indeed have him in a chokehold. He hadn't sensed her anywhere nearby. He did _now,_ but where had she come from?

"ANSWERS!" She snarled.

"I _said,_ Laura asked me to find you!" He gritted his teeth. "Now, let go. I'm just trying to help you out."

Kiden's arm tightened across his windpipe for a moment. "And how do _you_ know Laura? How do I know you're not trying to draw me into a trap so you can off me, huh?"

"I'm a telepath. I could have easily just shut your brain down when I was flying over." Julian was starting to get irritated. "But I didn't. I'm not here to kill _anyone._ " He paused. "And I'm Laura's boyfriend. Now, my turn—how the hell do you know _her?_ "

Kiden paused, then let him go, folding her arms. "We go way back."

He wrinkled his nose. "That's informative."

"Oh, right, like declaring yourself her 'boyfriend' is any better." She paused. "Laura's at this cave trap you're trying to lead me into?"

"It's not a trap." Julian folded his arms too. "But yeah. She's at the cave. You want to come?"

"Depends." Kiden paused. "You're a telepath, you said? Ask Laura what her pimp's name was."

Julian paused, his forehead wrinkling. "I…what?"

"You heard me." She shifted. "Once I hear you say the name, I'll trust you. Not before."

He was still dealing with the word _pimp,_ but Kiden was staring at him expectantly. And just as he had made James and Hepzibah wait to sort out their personal shit, he realized he was going to have to do the same. _Focus._ He couldn't reach Laura directly, but after a moment, he determined that he could reach Cessily. A few moments (and a few mental exclamations from said Cessily) later, he had the answer. "Uh…some idiot who calls himself Zebra Daddy."

Kiden raised an eyebrow. "Damn. Okay, I guess you _do_ know her." Pause. "Let's go."

* * *

Josh had healed Laura's wounds much earlier, and now she was feeling far sharper and more alert, so much so that she was acutely aware of the sound of Julian approaching. She shifted the girls to lean against Cessily and crept outside the cave, her forehead wrinkling as she saw him setting Kiden down. A moment later, she ran over and threw her arms around her friend, the way she had not been able to do when she saw her in the clearing. Or in the future, when she was strapped to Stryfe's chronal device.

"Hey!" Kiden said as she squeezed her back. She seemed pleased to see her, too. "How've you been? I haven't seen you in ages!"

Laura drew back. "Well." She paused. "The others…?"

"They were doing good, last I saw." Kiden paused. "Actually, we were just going diving in the Dutch street bin for a primo burger feast I spotted when I got swallowed up by a big flash of light. Bet they're all confused."

" _Ugh._ " Julian made a disgusted noise.

The two looked over at him.

"Please tell me you're not talking about eating _burgers_ out of _dumpsters_." His nose was wrinkled. "Just…please."

Kiden's eyes narrowed. "What? It's perfectly good food!"

"…" he turned away, shaking his head and mumbling something under his breath.

She looked at Laura. "Please tell me you're not actually dating that uppity piece of shit."

Laura's forehead wrinkled. "Yes."

" _Ugh._ " Kiden shook her head. "Bad call. Really bad call. Well, no big. We all do things we're not proud of."

"What— _excuse me?_ " Julian turned around again, an eyebrow raised. "I've known you like ten minutes, and heard you talk about _pimps_ and _eating out of dumpsters,_ and _I'm_ the one she should be embarrassed about?"

"Well, uh, _yeah_. Dude." Kiden rolled her eyes. "You do what you have to when you gotta survive. It doesn't mean anything. But who you like…that's one of the few things you can control. _That's_ where standards come into play."

Julian looked at Laura. "Can we talk?" His voice was sharp.

Laura closed her eyes, then nodded. "Kiden. Please go in the cave. We will follow soon."

Kiden grinned. "Good, wasting no time I see." She patted Laura on the shoulder, then turned and headed toward the cave entrance, about ten feet away.

Silence.

Julian folded his arms. "So."

Laura eyed him. "I have…displeased you somehow?"

He hesitated. "I…I don't know. Yet." Pause. He lowered his voice, so it was just above a whisper. "Why did Kiden say you had a pimp?"

She hesitated. Cessily had also spoken in a whisper when asking for her pimp's name. When she had responded in a normal tone, Santo had begun to ask who Zebra Daddy was, and Cessily had elbowed him in the face, as if she did not want anyone else in the cave to know. Not that it was a period of her life she enjoyed recalling. The phase immediately following her first escape from the facility had been one in which she had sought similar, familiar circumstances, too overwhelmed by her new surroundings, and now lacking Sarah's guidance. She had fallen into old patterns of behavior. Then Kiden had shown her that Zebra Daddy was bad and needed to die, after which she had left New York to search for Debbie and Megan in San Francisco.

The easiest way to deal with the present situation would be to say that she did not want to talk about it. Which she did not. But she could see that he would not accept that response. She looked down for a moment, cleared her throat slightly, then raised her eyes again. "There was…a short period of time…in which I worked as a prostitute, for an individual named Zebra Daddy."

Julian gazed at her for a moment, his expression very strained.

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She understood that the man had deserved death, but she had never considered the morality of her previous employment. "This was…wrong…?"

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Yes, it was wrong. His lips had pressed into a line now as he waited for her answer.

"I did."

Julian gritted his teeth. " _Before_ , I mean."

She shifted. "You did not ask."

"This isn't…" his forehead wrinkled, and he shook his head. "I can't _possibly_ ask you about every single thing you've ever done."

Laura had herself expressed this same frustration to Betty, after the girl had poured an entire bottle of syrup over her pancakes and then defended her actions by pointing out that she had failed to specify she should not do that. She closed her eyes, mouth opening. "I am sorry. I…" she trailed off for a moment, trying to find the correct words. "I did not know it was wrong."

He sighed. "I…well it's…look, it's not okay to do…that." Pause. "Why? How long?"

"A month and a half." Laura hesitated. Here was the part she did not like to admit, did not want to say out loud, but she would proceed. "When I first left…the facility…I did not know how to be free. I needed a handler…a…" she trailed off, turning her head slightly. She had heard a branch snap in the distance, and now could hear people approaching, stealthily, about a hundred feet away.

Julian looked too, probably sensing them with his mind. He straightened. "We'll finish this later. We can tell you're there!" The latter part was shouted to whoever was approaching. She could not detect their scents, as they were downwind of where she was standing.

Laura shot him a look.

"I'm not playing Arcade's stupid game." He shrugged. "Best way to avoid a fight is be friendly, right?"

She considered this, then nodded.

Murmuring. Two voices. She could not quite decipher what they were saying, either, as they spoke just above a whisper, but it was enough for her to identify them as female. She watched as two small figures stepped out from behind the trees and began to walk toward them. From the circle, participants 15 and 17.

Number 15 was a woman dressed in a stiff black skirt and matching corset. Her hair, which was a very glossy black, was cut in a choppy manner, the longer parts swept to the back of her head in a disorderly bun. Her expression was guarded, and in her hand was a small pocket knife. The blade was out.

Her companion, number 17, was a girl with shoulder length brown hair sticking out from beneath her fuzzy pink hat. Which had cat ears. She was dressed in a blue tracksuit, under which her form was small and delicate. But her eyes glowed pink, suggesting she had abilities of some sort.

"She's got, uh, magic powers. Something about the 'Staff of One'…keeps mumbling this script about blood to herself." Julian said this quietly, nodding to number 15. "The kid is a mutant. Strength powers. Don't think either of them want to fight us. They're just as confused about all this as we are."

"Hello!" Number 17 called, as they drew near. "My name's Nico—"

"I'm Molly!" her companion interrupted. "But you can call me 'Bruiser.' I also go by 'Princess Powerful' sometimes, but you can't call me that yet." Her voice was indeed that of a young girl's. Laura realized she might be about eleven or twelve years old.

"Molly, what did I say about interrupting me?"

"Um, sorry."

"It's okay." Nico had stopped and was eyeing them warily. "We weren't trying to sneak up on you. Really. We just tried to approach someone earlier and they attacked us right away." Pause. "You're not planning to, right?"

Julian glanced at Laura. "Right."

Laura nodded faintly. She was not certain whether she wanted to trust strangers in this place, especially when she had her clones nearby, but she did not think an aggressive approach would be strategic. Plus, if these newcomers were planning to attack them, Julian would probably sense it. He seemed more conservative in his use of telepathy than Frost, but he was at least aware of his environment.

"Okay." Nico paused. "And you are?"

"Julian." He paused, gestured to Laura, who had remained silent. "And this is Laura."

"Nice to meet you." Nico smiled briefly at Laura. "So, are you guys alone, or are there more of you?"

"More." Julian folded his arms. "And none of us are planning to play Arcade's game. The goal is to figure out how he's keeping us here and bust the controls, so if that doesn't interest you, then walk away now."

"Oh, no, that sounds—" Nico began.

"It sounds like you're the good guys!" Molly interrupted cheerfully. " _We're_ the good guys too, so we should totally make an alliance."

Nico sighed, shook her head slightly, but glanced at Julian for his reaction.

He looked at Laura. "What do you think? Can we trust them?"

She hesitated. The presence of her clones weighed heavily on her mind. "I do not detect anything alarming in their scents, but—" she broke off. A small robotic drone had zipped toward them, stopping in front of her eyes. Before she could even begin to comment on this development, it had released an enormous cloud of mist. Of _green_ mist. Right into her face.

 _Snkkt!_

* * *

"HRRK—" Julian doubled over as four adamantium blades buried themselves in his lower torso and ripped upward, stopping at his ribs. He finally managed to gather his wits enough to make a fist and blast Laura backward into a tree, bark chips flying off in all directions with the force of impact. There was a loud crack as she flew through the trunk, but he was barely aware of this, trying to hold in his insides with his other hand. Which had turned red. He wasn't doing a great job. The world was already getting dim. He was falling toward the ground. But the others were here already. Running from the cave. Shouting loudly. He couldn't tell what they were saying. His eyes were sliding shut.

 _Paft!_

"What the hell happened?!" Josh was asking. He was drawing his golden hand away now.

"Uh—" Julian sat up, his head clearing. He looked around the ground in confusion. There was a huge pool of red, and he was in the center. Oh, right. Laura. He scrambled up and shot into the air, knowing that he had to stop her before she could hurt anyone else. He quickly outstripped Santo and James, who were running in the direction Laura had presumably gone, judging by the cracked tree, which was leaning heavily on its neighbors. But he wasn't sure. She could have gone in a different direction. The last he knew of her whereabouts was as she disappeared into the jungle, propelled by his own mind.

What had been in that drone? Trigger scent. But she was able to control her reaction now to some degree. This reaction had been instantaneous, so much so that he hadn't even had time to react with his shield. If Josh hadn't been nearby, he would be dead. She had completely eviscerated him. Like the antelope she had caught the other day. His forehead wrinkled, and he increased his distance from the ground slightly. Almost subconsciously.

He flew for what felt like an hour, searching for any signs of her, but she had somehow managed to disappear without a trace. Finally, he gave up for the time being and doubled back. The sky was darkening, and the ground was becoming too difficult for him to see. Plus, if she returned to the cave in that state, he needed to be there to protect the clones. And Josh. If they lost him, they were all screwed. This little experience had only deepened his worries about Arcade. The man had clearly done his research on them. And he had just sent them a clear message: play the game. Or else.

* * *

"Julian!" Cessily called as she ran out of the cave to meet him. "Any luck?" They had been in mental contact a few times since he'd left, but then he had gone out of range, and hadn't bothered to update her about his returning. Her expression fell as he shook his head.

"Nothing." His forehead wrinkled, and he looked down. "God _damn_ it. I should have protected her, I—"

"This isn't your fault, Julian." Cessily put her hand on his shoulder. "Nothing about any of this is your fault." Her expression hardened. "It's _Arcade's_ fault. And we _are_ going to rip him a new one for this. But for now…you're alive, no one was permanently hurt, and the girls are in the cave waiting for you. We'll find her in the morning, okay?"

Julian hesitated, even though he had thought the same himself just earlier. "What if she doesn't snap out of it? And hurts someone else?"

"Well, if we go looking for her in the dark, she _will_ hurt someone else." Cessily's voice was firm. "And as far as we know, that's not how trigger scent works, right? She enters the rage state when she smells it, but when it's gone, she clears up."

"Right." Julian paused. "But there might be more drones out there. And I don't think it was regular trigger scent. It was so…instant."

"It was a drone?" Cessily looked surprised.

"Yeah, you guys didn't find it?"

"We just ran out when Josh heard you call him."

He paused. "Did Nico and Molly run away, then?"

"Who?"

"We were talking to them when this happened." Julian paused as he realized he had no way to know that they hadn't been behind the attack in the first place. He hadn't sensed ill intent from either, but then again, he hadn't thoroughly searched their minds, only picked up on the signals they were broadcasting at the time. Which could be false, if either of them was a telepath. The only way he would know for sure was if he encountered them again.

"You think they were behind it?" Cessily guessed.

He shrugged. "It was probably Arcade, the psychopath we're already aware of…but…you never know, right?"

"Yeah." Cessily sighed, patted his shoulder again. "Come on. David and Kiden found some food."

Julian nodded. Now that he had accepted the fact that he wasn't going to be seeing Laura tonight, he felt tired. Although he worried about her hurting others, he was also worried that she would get hurt herself. Arcade probably knew all about her weakness to carbonadium. Or there was the antimatter tech he had demonstrated. Or even just the fact that she might come to, realize what she had done, and all the work they had been doing this past month to fix things between them would be wasted. What if she just clammed up again, and pushed him away?

He crawled into the cave after Cessily and was met with a horrible sight: three little Laura clones, with blood smeared all over their faces. Then he realized it was berry juice, mostly by the raspberries still stuffed in Alice's palm.

The girl noticed his interest and held them up. "We have discovered there is a bush that grows candy."

"It is most interesting." Betty wrinkled her nose. "So far, all the natural products we have encountered are _repulsive._ "

"Where is Laura?" Gabby asked, her forehead wrinkled.

Julian didn't know how to answer her, at first. But he knew he didn't want to lie. The girls had heard enough lies in their short existence. He gazed at her for a moment. "We'll find out tomorrow." He paused, looked at Cessily. "You sure those berries aren't poisonous or something? That would be just like Arcade—"

"I'm pretty sure they aren't." David said this, his expression as serious as ever. "I have Dr. McCoy's botany skills memorized, and those are in the _Rubus_ family. Probably boulder raspberries, but I could be wrong."

"Oh. Duh." Julian nodded. "Keep forgetting Hank's a plant nerd." Then he realized that everyone was looking at him curiously.

Josh grinned. "Have that on good authority, do you?"

"Oh shut up." Julian looked away. "Are there any left?"

* * *

The others were sleeping now, having agreed that they would talk battle and escape plans in the morning, and Julian himself was attempting to do the same. He was lying on his back near the front of the cave, ready to block the entrance if someone attacked. The girls had ignored Cessily's attempts to cuddle with them, marching straight over to him and plopping down. Each wrapped their arms around one of his limbs. And then they had immediately fallen asleep, as if whatever batteries powered them had suddenly run out of power. Except for the occasional puppy-like dream twitch, they were still. Alice was even sucking her thumb. He didn't have the heart to move them.

He tucked his free arm behind his head and thought about the horrible moment outside. It had almost been as gory as the first time Laura had attacked him, the only difference being his own reaction time in blasting her away, and the fact that Josh was nearby. Without his help, there was no way he could have healed those wounds himself, even with all the skills he'd learned since. Maybe the T/O virus could have done something on its own. After all, it had made his hands grow back and saved his life the first time. But he didn't want to turn entirely into metal. Like Cessily, he mused. He had never considered it before, but that must suck. He suddenly felt like a shitty friend for never asking her about it.

There was something else he was supposed to feel shitty about. His eyebrows drew together, as he tried to remember what it was. Then, suddenly, he remembered it. The stuff he'd found out about Laura's past. Zebra Daddy. Whoever the fuck he was. He gritted his teeth. Just another asshole who had used her at some point. Was it really that surprising? No. He thought back to his own reaction. And Laura's. The way she had cringed when he had stared at her. What she had asked next: _t_ _his was…wrong…?_ She had been used so much, and she didn't even understand how wrong it was. Whatever she'd experienced in that month and a half wasn't even a fraction of the hell the facility had put her through. How could he forget that? Even for a moment? His eyebrows drew together. He knew the answer. Because she was so composed. She didn't talk about it, about any of it, not unless he forced her to. He sighed, closed his eyes. She needed to learn to talk, but he needed to learn to _listen_. Without judging. Her instantaneous snap back to killing machine reminded him that most of her life was out of her control. Like Logan had once told him, she'd had less practice being a person than a toddler. Slightly more than the girls. He looked down at them, his forehead wrinkling. Laura had experienced far more years of _bad_ then they had _,_ but somehow, she still wanted to be good. To take care of her clones, to stop killing, to make him happy. He swallowed, wishing she was here, so he could tell her that it was okay. Whatever she had done before didn't even matter. But she wasn't. Thanks to Arcade. Yet _another_ asshole that was using her. His hand formed a fist behind his head, and the air began to heat up around him. Then he remembered the girls wrapped around his limbs, and he forced himself to relax. Whatever happened, he had to protect the girls, not only because he wanted to, but because Laura couldn't right now. He had to prove to her that she could trust him, that there was someone in the world who wouldn't let her down.

With that thought, he fell asleep. Or into something resembling sleep, because sometime later, he was in a dark, closed space. He couldn't tell where, or hear, or see, but he had the feeling that if he made a sound, it would be muffled. He sensed something ahead, and so he moved toward it, curious.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he finally drew near, but that didn't matter now. He was certain that somehow, the presence was Laura.

 _Can you hear me?_ He asked.

She didn't answer, or look at him, but he could kind of see her now, an extremely hazy area of light, with a few features that he just barely recognized as belonging to her. He wondered if she was still in her trigger scent mode.

 _Laura?_ He asked again.

She finally looked at him. _No._ Her eyes glowed red.

He frowned. _Who are you?_

 _Not._

His forehead wrinkled. Then he understood. She meant "not Laura." He realized that, somehow, he was speaking to whatever part of her was in control now. Or whatever was left of her, rather. _You need to wake Laura up,_ he said carefully. In the back of his mind, he wondered how he was even doing this. Her brain was encased with vibranium. Except for the smallest of telekinetic operations, such as the one he had done to remove the trigger scent wiring and then the exploding capsule, he hadn't been able to use any kind of mental energy with her mind.

"Not" gave him a skeptical look. Rather, he felt her skepticism.

He thought for a moment. This was a chance to dig deeper into her trigger scent programming. The training they had done with her before had only scratched the surface and had clearly not worked for whatever alterations Arcade had made to the formula. _Why are you in control?_

"Not" continued to gaze at him. _Fight._

 _Fight what?_

 _Bad smell._

He remembered what he had read in Sarah's letter. They had tortured her, to condition her to the scent meaning pain would follow. What could he say to make her let go? _No one can hurt you anymore. They're all dead._

"Not" shook her head.

He bit his lip. Or he felt like he did, anyway. Did he even have a lip? He wished he knew more about what this was. He knew he wasn't dreaming. This was real. But he wasn't sure what else he could do. For instance, could he simply make "Not" understand what he was trying to tell her? He was afraid to try, because that could just reinforce her fear. Suddenly he knew how to convince her. _You're hurting Laura._

"Not" paused, studied him. _No. Keep safe._

 _No. She's afraid of you. You hurt people she loves._ He paused. _She's afraid you'll hurt the girls._ He wished he could show her images, but he didn't know how.

"Not" was confused. She tilted her head. _Keep safe. No hurt._

 _You're hurting her._ He said this firmly. _Keep her safe by letting her choose. She's strong now, and she has others who want to keep her safe. She doesn't need you anymore._

"Not" looked away. She didn't trust him. Could he blame her?

 _Please stop hurting Laura._

She glared at him. _They not stop._

He knew she meant her creators. And Kimura. Laura had probably begged at first, when they started. If she knew how to beg. Which had come first, teaching her language or teaching her fear? His hands formed fists at his sides. _I know. But we_ made _them stop. Now you need to stop, too, so Laura can be free. So she can stop hurting._ He used the word "stop" and "hurting" many times, hoping this would hammer the message home.

"Not" suddenly looked away again. And disappeared. He had lost whatever link he had with her. Maybe she had relinquished control and Laura had woken up, but he doubted it. The movement had been akin to a predator sensing approaching prey. Or…prey sensing an approaching predator, he realized. Laura's trigger scent rage wasn't the reaction of a killing machine, seeking to cause death. It was the reaction of a wounded animal, blindly lashing out to destroy whatever was causing the pain.

He gradually faded out of whatever state he had been in and began to dream. Soon he had forgotten he was asleep and was convinced he was helping Dr. McCoy fight off a planetary invasion of giant sentient space raspberries.

* * *

Julian rolled over, as a small finger poked him in his cheek. "Stoppit!" he mumbled into his arms, annoyed. "Trynna sleep."

"But the sun has risen." Alice's voice. "And it is so white. Just like it was when we left the facility."

"Laura is always awake by now." Gabby.

"Leave him alone!" Betty. "Sleeping past sunrise is probably the correct thing to do. Laura is wrong about many things."

"Wait, what?" Julian raised his head and looked at the girls, who were sitting cross legged in a small circle around him. His forehead wrinkled. "How long you been there?"

"One hour." Alice paused. "But we require nutrition. And the ground is all interesting."

"If you require more sleep, we could go hunting." Betty offered this, a little too enthusiastically.

"Hang on there." He slowly sat up, yawned, then looked around the cave. Everyone else was still sleeping. Laurie and Rahne were leaning against each other, despite being at odds the other day, while Josh was sitting against the wall, arms folded around himself. James was holding Hepzibah, and Santo and Cessily were kind of cuddled up against each other. Again, he wondered, briefly, if there was something going on with them again. He remembered his thoughts the other day, of how hard it must be to be made entirely of metal, and realized that this kind of applied to Santo as well. His forehead wrinkled.

"May we?" Betty asked again, impatiently.

"Do not inundate him with questions!" Gabby said rather sternly. "It is inconvenient for you when we ask too many questions, correct?" She did not seem to realize that by saying this, she had also asked a question.

Julian reached out and ruffled her hair, then Betty's. "No hunting. We can go out and get more berries, I guess…do you remember where they were?"

Nods. Betty looked disappointed. "I wished to go killing!" she said sulkily.

"We're a no-kill family." Julian realized he had said this very casually, as if describing a preferred pop brand. He shook his head at himself, then began to crawl out of the cave after the girls. Hopefully, the source of the berries would be nearby. He didn't think it was a good idea to get separated from the main group for long.

He stopped as he caught sight of the ground. About a foot of snow had fallen overnight. That was bizarre, seeing as it had been quite temperate, even warm yesterday. By the jungle, and the safari animals they had encountered yesterday, he had figured they were somewhere near the equator. Maybe Africa. But it didn't snow there, did it?

The girls were dancing around in the snow, whispering excitedly among themselves. They had seen snow when they first left the facility, but not since, and they had not been allowed to play in it then, so he let them enjoy it for a little while. Then he started to get cold, given he was dressed in a thin jacket, t-shirt, and jeans, so he cleared his throat. "Where are these berries again?"

The girls led him into the snowy jungle, a little south of the tree he had thrown Laura into yesterday. He was beginning to worry about the distance when they finally stopped and clustered around a powder-covered bush, under which some red berries were visible. He examined one closely, then determining that they were the same as last night, allowed them to begin stuffing their faces. He took a few for himself but wasn't really that hungry, so he gave them to Alice. Then he sensed someone nearby, someone he had been looking for. Ruth. He watched as she approached them, not seeming lost, even though she was walking through a strange, cold jungle full of concealed vines and trees.

"Hello!" she called.

"Hey." He raised his eyebrows. "Where were you? I tried to find you yesterday."

"For the cave, yes. Excuse me, I was watching a spiderweb weave itself. I am sorry. Destiny won't wait, even if you say please and thank you." She smiled, as if this statement made perfect sense to her.

"Okay." Julian shoved his hands in his pockets, his forehead wrinkling. "Have you seen Laura?"

"No, but you have." Ruth raised her eyebrows. "Where is she? You should ask her."

"Holy fuck." He mumbled this out loud, rubbing his face with his palm. "Ruth, is there some medicine you should be taking, and have taken none of? Or can I, like, help you somehow? You're making a hundred percent less sense than usual."

"Medicine is, excuse me, overrated." Ruth said this mildly. "And, sorry, _you_ are the one who is not making sense. You spoke to her, thank you, last night."

Julian paused. "Do you know what I was doing?"

"Astral projection, yes, of course." Ruth held up a finger, waved it slightly, as if making a point. "I am go often, pardon me, to the astral plane. This is where my eyes live."

"Wait, what?" His forehead wrinkled. The word was familiar. Like he'd heard Frost say it before, or maybe it was one of the things the Cuckoos had jammed in his head. "So you know how to do this? Can you show me?"

"Yes and yes." She paused. "Also no."

"Oh my god." Julian rubbed his face with his palm again. He was getting a headache.

Betty tugged on his sleeve. "We can hear a creature approaching. Can we engage it in a hunt?"

"What? No." He shook his head. "Come on. Everyone back to the cave. Then I need you to show me how to get on this astral plane thing."

* * *

"There you are!" Cessily said, as he approached the entrance of the cave. She had obviously been waiting for them. "We were—" then she saw Ruth. She smiled. "Oh, good, one less person to look for, huh?"  
"Yep." Julian paused. "Can you watch the girls for a bit? We're going to try something with Laura."

"Sure." Cessily raised an eyebrow. "Um, really? You and Ruth?"

"Yep." He paused "Why, that sound crazy or something?"

"Just crazy enough to work!" Santo called, peering over Cessily's shoulder. "Dude, hurry up and do your weird thing. I'm gettin' sick of bein' cooped up in this cave, especially when you got David, Smell-Girl, an' Shiny here too. Plus, the new kid's weird, she keeps talkin' about 'back on the street' like that's should mean somethin' to me."

Julian grinned slightly, despite how tired and frustrated he felt. "I'm sure you can handle it."

A few minutes later, he and Ruth were sitting opposite each other, a little outside the cave, on a patch of ground he had cleared of snow with his mind. He knew inside the cave would probably be the safest, but there were too many distractions, and he didn't want to leave the girls somewhere they would be vulnerable.

He cleared his throat and gave Ruth an expectant look. "How do I do this?"

"I always close my eyes and concentrate on, yes, a faraway place." Ruth said this dreamily.

Julian gazed at her. "You don't _have_ eyes."

She just smiled and began humming.

He looked at the ground, feeling momentarily defeated. Why couldn't he have gotten trapped with a competent telepath? One of the Cuckoos? Frost? Why did it have to be Blindfold, the certifiably insane girl?

"Sticks and stones can break my bones, excuse me, but words will never, please, hurt me." Ruth said this pleasantly.

"God, Ruth, don't just read my mind like that!" Julian snapped. He hadn't even been able to feel her trespassing.

"Shhhhh. Pardon me, can you hear that? She's listening." Ruth was frowning, holding a finger up to her lips.

He squinted at her. Was she talking about Laura? Finally, he closed his eyes, his lip curling. This was irritating as hell, and not at all helpful, but he needed to find her. Now. Maybe…maybe if he focused on that. For a few moments there was no change, and he was about to tell Ruth as much, but then he realized he couldn't talk. Or see. It took him a few moments to understand what had happened. Then his senses sharpened, and he was able to sense Ruth standing nearby. To his surprise, she did indeed have eyes up here. They were two star-like orbs in her head, emitting a bright light.

 _Over there,_ Ruth said, pointing toward the darkness.

 _There's nothing there._ Julian paused. _Wait, what does all this look like to you?_

 _Anything I want it to, yes._ She paused. _But mostly grass and sunshine, pardon me, when I am not changing it._

He realized that he must either not be as strong a telepath as she was, or he needed more practice. Probably the latter. After a moment, he shrugged. Not like he wanted to come here ever again, anyway. What did he care if he couldn't see the scenery? He looked in the direction Ruth had pointed, trying to concentrate only on what he was here for. A moment later, he could sense it too: a dim light. Another presence. He began to head toward her, determined. He was going to help Laura with her trigger scent problem for once and for all, and then he would find her, and they would break out of here. Somehow.

As he drew closer, he could see that Laura, or Not, was flickering. In and out. He guessed that she was concentrating on something else. Maybe a fight. _Laura!_ He shouted, trying to catch her attention.

A moment passed. Then Not looked at him, her outline solidifying. He could make out the dim red glow of her eyes. _You again._

 _Yeah._ He paused. _You need to let go of Laura. I need to talk to her._

 _No._ Not shook her head. _Danger._

 _You. You're the danger._ He looked back at Ruth, who had followed them. _How do I show her things? Memories?_

 _Hmmm._ She thought for a moment. _Maybe like you are playing her, yes, a movie?_

Julian turned back to Not again, shaking his head slightly. How did Ruth even _know_ how to play a movie? But he thought back to the times Laura had hurt him, and concentrated on them, imagined he was making her see them. Since he really didn't know what else to try.

To his surprise, it seemed to work. Not's eyebrows drew together. He realized he was affecting her. He began to add things. His memories from when they had trained, trying to break her of her trigger scent response. The way she had begged and pleaded for him not to let her hurt anyone. Then an image of what he imagined Sarah must have looked like. He hoped she wouldn't notice that this wasn't an actual memory. He followed it quickly with himself in the snow. And the moment, years ago now, when he had been in the tube of trigger scent, and she had let Harkins capture her again. Finally, he showed her a picture of the girls.

 _Stop!_ Not said this angrily, turning her red eyes to him. _Lies._

 _No. Look at this._ He held up his metal hand, made a fist. _You did this to me. You hurt me._

Not paused. She seemed confused. Afraid. She obviously hadn't meant to cause Laura pain, only to protect her. She glanced at him again, studying. Then the red glow of her eyes faded, and she shook her head slightly. _Julian?_

 _Where are you?_ He asked immediately.

 _I am not sure._ Laura seemed to glance around herself. _There are trees… they are different than the ones near the cave. Coniferous. There is running water._ Pause. _And I seem to be engaged in battle. With Kid Gladiator._ As she spoke, she ducked, and Julian thought he saw the blurry image of a fist graze the side of her head.

 _We'll be there as soon as we can._

No sooner had he said this than she disappeared, probably concentrating on her fight.

He looked at Ruth, his forehead wrinkling. _Before we go, we need to try and get in touch with someone at the school. Like Frost. Can we do that?_ He'd seen enough of Arcade's workings now to know that they should have a plan for rescue in place, in case they couldn't figure their own way out.

 _Anything is possible, yes, in the astral plane,_ Ruth replied in a sing-song tone. _But we should probably, pardon me, work together._ She offered him her hand.

He paused, then took it, and began to think as hard as he could.

 _FROST! FROST! FRRROSSST!_ They yelled.

A few moments later, a white outline appeared right in front of them. This filled in gradually to reveal Emma Frost, as if she had squeezed in through a tear in the darkness. _Goodness, children, whatever is the matter? I was making a cup of tea and all of a sudden there was such a racket—_ she paused, looked at Julian. _You are advancing in your skills very quickly._

 _We need help!_ He said, frustrated. He wanted to get the words out before something happened, before Arcade figured out what they were doing. _This psychopath called Arcade got a whole bunch of us and he's trying to force us to take part in this thing…he calls it Murderworld. The girls are here too!_

Frost's eyes widened. _Curious._

 _Curious?!_ Julian couldn't contain his exasperation. _We're all going to die in here!_

 _Well, I just saw you and Laura off._ Frost frowned. _You were returning to school, and were quite firm in not staying another moment. You left about fifteen minutes ago to catch your return flight._

 _…what?_ He gazed at her.

Frost hesitated. _Who else is with you, from the school? Besides Ruth._

 _Ah, yes, I see._ Ruth nodded. _Pardon me._

 _Cessily, Santo,_ _Josh,_ _James, Hepzibah, David…and Nori._ Julian paused. _Laurie and Rahne._

 _Good. Wait here._ Frost disappeared.

He glanced at Ruth. _What is she doing?_

 _Checking on them, thank you._ Ruth paused. _She thinks one equals two._

Julian sighed, but before he could even begin to decipher what this meant, Frost reappeared.

 _Goodness. They are decoys._

 _You didn't_ notice _?!_

Frost pursed her lips. _Your defenses are very strong around me, and Laura's mind is impenetrable. Also, the decoys are quite organic. For the half a minute I spoke to you, when I caught you sneaking away, I did not feel it necessary to break into your mind and check for authenticity._ She paused. _Do you know where you are?_

 _No._ Julian shrugged. _Cessily thinks an island of some sort._

 _I will begin the search and send help._ Frost paused. _Be careful. Arcade is dangerous._

 _Yeah, we noticed that._ He couldn't help the sarcasm in his tone.

Frost gave him a cool look but disappeared without further comment.

He glanced at Ruth. _How do we get out of here?_

 _Open your eyes, please._ Ruth said this serenely

Julian was about to point out that his eyes were already open, but then he opened his real ones, and for a moment was dizzy. The astral plane was gone, and he was suddenly sitting in the circle of ground he had cleared, surrounded by snow. Ruth was across from him, smiling to herself.

He scrambled to his feet and ran to the cave. "Guys! I have to go find Laura…but I got in touch with Frost. She's going to send someone."

"What, really?" David sounded surprised. "How?"

"Some astral thing." Julian glanced at Cessily. "Can you stay here with the girls?"

"Of course." She hesitated. "You shouldn't go alone."

"No." He looked around the cave. "Santo…and James…you're with me. I want the rest of you staying here, keeping watch." He paused and looked at Ruth, who had just entered. "And I need you to stay here, so we can update each other, okay?" He vaguely remembered Frost saying that telepaths could communicate with each other over larger ranges.

Nods, all around.

"We'll strategize about how to get out of here when we get back." He turned and headed out of the cave, James and Santo following closely.

"So where is X?" The latter asked.

"That's a good question." Julian frowned. "All I know is, the trees look different there, and she's fighting Kid Gladiator."

"Great. So basically anywhere except here." James shrugged. "Not too worried. I'd say he's pretty easy compared to Stryfe."

"Yeah, but Arcade's not, and he's running the show." Julian paused. "Ready?"

"Yep." James.

Santo grinned. "Don't even have to ask."


	39. Chapter 39 - Doubt

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Thanks for the well wishes! Had my wisdom teeth extracted, but all went well and I have made a full recovery! The only downside is I might not want mashed potatoes again for like ever. Life is somewhat peachy, knock on wood, and I should be able to write regularly again (I've already started work on Ch 40 so the next update will hopefully not take as long to get out).

In related news, today is exactly one year ago since I began publishing this story. I began Change as a doodle to get myself back into writing after losing my brother last year, which had completely wiped my creativity for a while. It's been a tough period of life, but writing has been something that gets me through and brings me joy. I am glad that this story has continued and also brought enjoyment to readers and fellow Helix fans. Yesterday I happened to open the story document (which totals at 207,117 words as of writing this note) and reread from Chapters 1-24. I was happy that I could actually see how much the characters are changing and growing over time, which has been my ultimate goal/theme for this story. I still have a lot planned for the future. Again, thank you for reading and hope you all continue to enjoy! :)

PS: I have read the new X-23 #1 comic that came out recently. **MILD SPOILER FOLLOWING, AVERT EYEBALLS IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILER** It's not bad, I have a few minor critiques. Mostly about the language Laura uses, for example her calling Sarah "Mom" when she has always referred to her as "Mother" in the past, something I found unlikely to change over time. That sounds super picky, but I am super picky about Laura's dialogue since I put a lot of work into it myself. Also, I didn't picture her knowing her birthday. But I did like/love some points such as Gabby being a food nut, and I think the Cuckoos storyline is cool. :) **END OF MILD SPOILER**

* * *

CHAPTER 39

 _Doubt_

* * *

Laura pressed herself flat against the trunk of the tree, holding her breath, hoping that her opponent did not have enhanced senses. He did not seem especially intelligent, and so he would likely continue flying straight through the forest, assuming that she had run across the river again and kept going.

Sweat and water dripped off the end of her nose. And blood. Only a little of it hers. She was coated in Julian's dried blood, a scent which made her heart beat faster and icy prickles run down her spine. But she had spoken to him recently, so she knew that he was still alive, at least. How had he communicated with her? Not telepathically. The biosimilar vibranium lining her skull made that impossible. Harkins had made sure of that, ordering a batch as soon as it became available for purchase.

She closed her eyes. She was still hazy on the events of last night and this morning. The last moment she could remember was speaking with Julian outside the cave. Something had happened after that, then she had woken in the middle of combat with Kid Gladiator, whose punch had sent her flying into the snow, leaving red streaks in her wake. She had taken a spoken with Julian, somehow, as she scrambled upward, and then she had gone back to fighting. Her opponent was as strong and invulnerable as Kimura, but less graceful and not as inventive. Many of his punches were easy to dodge, and it was clear that he had never fought anyone as swift as herself before. And so she thought she might be able to end the fight via avoidance tactics. Which was why she was now hiding against the tree.

Her forehead wrinkled as she heard a sweeping sound approaching, and then as Kid Gladiator's hand snaked around the trunk and grabbed her wrist, before she could even think of moving. "HAHA! CAUGHT YOU, WENCH!" he laughed. "I could hear your heart booming like a war drum! YOU WILL BE MY PRIZE!"

Laura tried to twist her wrist free, but his grip was unyielding. She wrinkled her nose in frustration. Her usual approaches would not work: he was invulnerable to her claws, and too strong for maneuvers. But his senses were enhanced. Perhaps a loud noise, or a bright light, or she could sever her arm—

"HYURK!" Kid Gladiator jolted, then his grip loosened.

Laura slipped her wrist free, an eyebrow raised. He seemed to be frozen in place.

"Laura!" Julian's voice, from across the clearing.

She looked back and saw him running in the snow toward her with his hand outstretched, large clouds of powder kicking up in his wake. He must be controlling her opponent mentally. He looked as he had yesterday, with no signs of blood or tears in his clothes. He must have repaired them with his mind. Behind him, a little farther back, she could see James and Santo. A moment later he had reached her and was squeezing her tightly, mumbling into her hair. Laura pressed her face against his neck, breathing in his scent and trying to relax. She had not been aware of how cold and tired she felt until this moment. Her limbs were shaking slightly from exhaustion.

"I'm okay." He stroked her back with his metal hands, then drew back and looked at her, his hands on her upper arms, forehead wrinkling as he examined her. "Are _you_?"

Laura nodded, curtly, closed her eyes. "Fine." Her voice was hoarse. "My clones?"

"Fine. We'll go back to the cave. There's some berries and—" Julian paused, looked toward the edge of the clearing that she'd emerged from. "Where'd that idiot go?"

She looked back too, confused. For a moment her focus on her environment had slipped, as she relaxed. Now she could not detect Kid Gladiator anywhere. "I…do not know."

His lips pressed into a line. "Don't like it. Let's get out of here."

"She ok?" Santo called, as he and James arrived. "All clear now?"

"Fine." Laura hesitated. "'All clear'?"

"I'll explain later." He looked at the others. "She's good. I had Kid Gladiator sleeped and then…he just disappeared." Julian had pressed his hand to her back, and they were now airborne again, heading back the way he and the others had come. "Something weird is going on and we need to get out of here. Now."

"Yes." Laura watched as the ground rushed away from her feet, then tilted her head to study him. His expression was serious, concerned. She wondered what Santo had meant by "all clear." _Trigger scent._ She felt even colder at the thought. But it did not make sense. Firstly, she did not remember detecting it, or having a moment to resist. She should have, as a result of the work they had done recently to suppress her response. Secondly, with trigger scent, she had always remembered the moments of its use, blacking out only for the portion of time the chemical was bound to her receptors, and waking up after it was gone. But last night, she had been unconscious for an entire evening. Her eyebrows drew together.

It took them about half an hour to reach the cave. As they landed in a small snow-free circle, Laura caught Julian's sleeve. "Please tell me what happened. Who did I hurt?"

He hesitated. "It doesn't—"

"Jules." James shrugged. "But he _always_ gets hurt, so no big deal, right?"

"Yeah!" Santo grinned. "Come to think of it, he's like Kenny from South Park."

Julian gave them a flat look, then shook his head and looked at her again. "We were talking to those new kids…Nico and Molly…and then a drone flew up and sprayed something in your face. Probably trigger scent." He paused. "You just snapped."

Her eyebrows drew together. "How badly did I hurt you?"

Julian shrugged. "It wasn't bad."

"I've seen worse." James offered. "Autopsies, that is."

Santo snickered. "Probably gonna shit out some ribs at some point."

"Seriously guys, would you shut up?" Julian looked at her again. "Okay, it was bad, but I'm fine now. And I don't think you got anyone else. Not from our group, anyway."

Laura closed her eyes, started to turn away.

"Hey, I said I'm fine." He caught her wrist gently. "And…I don't know how to explain this, but I kind of talked to you, when you were conked out." He paused. "I think…I think I know how to fix the trigger scent stuff. Permanently."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"I need more practice, but—" Julian was cut off by three loud, piercing screams from the direction of the cave. A few moments later they hit her legs, knocking her to the ground in a large cloud of snow.

"—WE WERE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR WELLBEING—" Gabby.

"—YOU PROBABLY WENT TO IHOP WITHOUT US—" Alice.

"—ALL WE HAVE EATEN ARE BERRIES AND THEY ARE INSUFICIENT—" Betty.

"—LAURA YOU SHOULD NOT LEAVE WITHOUT TELLING US—"

"—AS WE ARE FIERCELY CARNIVOROUS—"

"—I CAN SMELL THE PANCAKES ON YOUR BREATH—"

"—YOU ARE BAD AND YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD—"

"—DO YOU THINK THEY WILL EVER OFFER MEAT WAFFLES—"

"—THERE MUST BE A TARP SOMEWHERE—"

"SILENCE!" Laura shouted, finally having managed to sit up. Her eye whites flashed. The three clones stopped speaking at once, trading looks of concern. They had never heard her sound quite so alarming before. Or seen her quite so covered in blood.

She got to her feet, dusting the snow off, her nose wrinkled in irritation. "You must stop this! You will wait until I address you, and then you will speak, one at a time! Do you understand?"

"Yes, but—" Alice began.

" _Do you understand?!_ " Laura insisted. Then her eyes widened as she heard a slithering sound. She barely had time to turn her head before Cessily impacted her from the side, knocking her off her feet again.

"OHMIGODLAURAWEWERESOWORRIED—"

James glanced at Julian. "Well, if whatever you were worried about earlier was having trouble finding us…"

"Cess! Let _go!_ " Julian began to pry at her hand with his mind, but the material of her arm only warped, growing longer so that he made no progress. Eventually he gave up and watched.

Cessily loosened the hug and let Laura breathe again. "Oh god! You look _awful!_ Where have you been? Did you get attacked?"

Laura took a moment to answer her, breathing through her nose. "Yes. By Kid Gladiator."

"Man, she wasn't kidding! Hope that's not all yours." Kiden said this. She had followed the others out of the cave and was now eyeing Laura with raised eyebrows. "You look worse than the night we met. And _that's_ saying something. Did you pour a bucket of blood over your head Carrie-style?"

Laura glanced at Julian, expecting to see signs of disgust. But he seemed more distressed, his forehead wrinkled and his mouth curved into a frown as he watched her. She looked at Kiden again. "No. What is Carrie-style?"

"A Stephen King movie. Forgot you don't get that stuff." Kiden paused. "So exactly who the hell is Kid Gladiator?"

"An alien."

Kiden's eyes widened. "What, aliens _are_ real?"

"Of _course_ we're _real!_ " Hepzibah's tail flicked irritably. "As if Earth was the only habitable planet in the universe. It's not even the _most_ habitable planet in your _galaxy._ " She looked at James and shook her head. "Honestly."

He shrugged.

"Uh—" Kiden's nose wrinkled. "Jeez, relax. I was just surprised. No need to get all uppity about a _question._ "

Hepzibah folded her arms. "Well, it was a stupid one." She rolled her eyes. "Next thing I know, you're going to tell me you haven't heard of a shiny box."

"What—" Kiden began.

"Kiden has heard of the shiny box. I informed her myself." Laura said this firmly. "She does _not_ need you to describe it. Ever."

Julian looked down at the girls very quickly, but she thought she heard him snort.

"We need to have that talk now, about escaping." David had joined them, and his tone was serious. "Things are only going to get worse the longer we're here."

"Yeah." Julian cleared his throat, no longer grinning. "Frost hasn't tried to contact us yet…right Ruth?" He gave her an expectant look.

Ruth did not answer. She was standing quietly in the snow, her eyebrows drawn together.

"Ruth?" Julian pressed.

"Something wicked this way comes."

"…" Cessily folded her arms. "Uh, wanna explain that for us sane people?"

"Yeah, can you—" Julian began. Then he turned around, looked at the trees behind them. "You're right…but where?"

"Uh oh." Josh looked at James nervously.

Laura looked around them. "What is happening?" she asked Julian, but he was too busy to answer.

* * *

Julian looked around himself in confusion. He seemed to be standing in the middle of a sandy desert, over which was a wide, starry galaxy. The only movement was the occasional shooting star, in his peripheral vision.

"Well, well. Fancy seeing _you_ here." A nasally voice was saying this. Quentin Quire.

Julian turned around to see a young, skinny man, with pink hair that was shaved in a mohawk. He was watching him over his wire-rimmed glasses. " _Fuck._ " He knew that this wasn't good. Quire must have been working with Kid Gladiator. He didn't even need to attack him to sense that his telepathy skills were weak in comparison.

"Questioning yourself, hmm?" Quire was smirking. "Doubts are like seeds. You don't even need to waste effort overpowering people…just plant a doubt and watch the roots dig deep. You wouldn't be such a shitty telepath if you worked at it and used a little _imagination_ sometimes, Keller."

Julian knew a little about his attacker, enough to not want anything to do with him. He'd started a gang and incited the riot a couple years back that resulted in the temporary shutdown of the school, and last year or so, there had been some sort of Phoenix incident that had caused a lot of damage and resulted in Frost having to reinter the remains of one of the Cuckoos, who he was apparently obsessed with. He hadn't been present for this, but it sounded nasty. "You wouldn't be such a shitty person if you worked at it, Quire."

Quire rolled his eyes. "That's rich, coming from the king of assholes."

Julian narrowed his. "What do you _want?_ "

"What do I _want?_ Hmmmm, let me think about it." Quire clasped his hands behind his back. "What _do_ I want? How about…acknowledgement of my superiority?"

"Oh come on." Julian paused. "You already said it yourself. You're stronger than me."

Quire smiled. "Yeah but I want to hear _you_ say it."

"I just did, and I have no problem with it." Julian held up his metal hands. "I'm the B-list movie version of a telepath. I don't know what the hell I'm doing half the time. And that's _after_ the Cuckoos jammed my head full of techniques." He noted how Quire flinched when he mentioned their name. "You win, okay?"

"And telekinesis?" Quire prodded, his smile growing.

Julian faltered. He had always been extremely proud of his ability to move matter with his mind and had bragged more than a few times in the past that he could probably fight the Phoenix if he had the chance. His trials in the danger room had suggested otherwise, but it was one thing for him to know this, and one thing to admit it out loud to this scumbag. He closed his eyes. He didn't know if Quire was still a Phoenix host, but why risk it? "Look…if it makes you feel better, sure. I don't want to fight. I want to work at getting out of here…and you should too. That's all that matters."

"You didn't say it." Quire shook his finger at him. A few flames licked at the end of his fingertip. "Say it. Say you're a weak little worm, and I'm a _god_."

"…" Julian stared at him. "The hell? Come on."

 _Sssssay it._ From all around.

"I…" he closed his eyes, his lip curling. "What have I ever done to you?"

"Really?" Quire's voice was soft, but full of anger. "You don't even remember?"

It played like a film clip in front of Julian's eyes. Himself, and Santo, and Cessily, around sixteen, standing on the front steps of the school, looking down at the younger Quire. Julian made a whisking motion and said _shoo_. When Quire didn't move, he hit him with a thought, slamming him back on the ground and sending him shooting through the grass on his behind.

His vision cleared. He vaguely remembered this now. Quire looked different then, with dull brown hair and clothes like sweat vests and khakis. And he was nervous, following them around and trying to get on their squad. Julian's forehead wrinkled. "Quire, that was _ages_ ago. We don't have time to mess around and play games with each other. We need to focus on getting out of here."

"Typical." Quire sneered. "Not even an apology."

 _BOOM!_ His vision was obliterated temporarily by flames.

"AHHHGH!" Julian was slammed backwards. Large clouds of sand billowed around him as he slid on his behind through the sand. He finally came to a halt…at Quire's feet. Apparently he controlled the physics of this place. They must be on the astral plane.

"Back so soon?" Quire was wearing a black outfit, with a gold bird emblem on his chest. A _phoenix_ symbol. Flames licked around him. Was he actually the Phoenix, or was he just screwing with his head?

Julian staggered to his feet, barely shielding himself from the next blast of energy.

 _BOOM!_

Julian was sent flying back again. He finally landed in the dust, and blood rolled down from his nose. His skull was splitting. His eyes smarted. Phoenix or no, Quire was as strong, if not stronger than Stryfe. He was holding back, savoring the kill. He knew he couldn't win this fight. Why even try. He would just let everyone down. What chance did he have of—

 _BOOM!_

"AAHHHGH!" Julian landed on his back and saw stars, with closed eyes. He didn't know how many more of these hits he could take. What would happen if his mind died? Would he go comatose? Would he be stuck in this place forever?

"Excuse me, but you aren't going to die." Ruth's voice, somewhere nearby.

"Huh?" Quire sounded startled.

Julian looked up to see the blind girl offering him her hand. He took it, and almost instantly felt lighter. What the hell had Quire been doing to him? He pulled himself up, swaying heavily as he stood again. Then he wiped the blood off his chin and mouth, glaring at Quire. "Sure you can handle _both_ of us, asshat?"

"Of course." But Quire sounded a little less certain.

"What a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive." Ruth said this lightly.

Julian glanced at her. "Are you just full of clichés now?"

"No, excuse me, I was referring to Quire's, sorry, phobia of spiders." Ruth paused. "He _really_ doesn't like how fast they move. Or how many eyes they have. Excuse me, perhaps they remind him of himself."

As she spoke, Quire began to look around, his expression wavering.

"Gotcha." Julian thought about a Australian spider he had once seen in a textbook, and pictured himself shooting a hand cannon filled with them at Quire's face. Any reservations he'd felt about exploiting someone else's mental weakness had disappeared. At least for now.

"STOP IT!" Quire shrieked, ripping off his glasses so he could wipe his face desperately. "It's just a trick, it's just a trick, it's just—"

About a minute and some truly alarming imagined spiders later, the desert disappeared, and Julian was kneeling in the snow. Laura was rubbing his shoulders, her forehead wrinkled as she called his name.

"'M fine." He managed to gasp this, his voice hoarse. He felt like he might not have been breathing very much. Dark fingers were retreating from the edges of his vision.

Laura reached up and wiped away a drop of blood from under his nose with her thumb. He stared at it and shuddered. So he had been right. The mental fight had taken a toll on his physical body too.

"He may return." Ruth said this calmly, but she was frowning. "We should, yes, sorry, stay on the alert."

"Yeah." Julian got to his feet, leaning heavily on Laura, who was still watching him with a concerned expression. "I'm fine. Really." He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

She closed her eyes. "Okay."

"Okay. Now that it's over." David cleared his throat, nudging his glasses up his nose. "We know Frost is aware of the situation, and will probably send someone to rescue us, but we should try to do what we can to foil Arcade in the meantime. Make alternate plans." He looked at Julian. "Let's start with the sky barrier. You said you and Laura tried flying up, but you got an electric shock, right? Maybe you should try again?"

"Uh…I never told you that." Julian raised an eyebrow. "I've only discussed the barrier with Laura so far." He felt certain of this. They hadn't actually discussed escaping yet.

David frowned. "You must have."

"Did I tell him that?" He looked at Josh. "When I was flying you over here. You were with us for that whole trip."

Josh shook his head.

"Laurie?" Julian looked at her expectantly. She and Rahne had been the other people in the same group as David.

"Uh…no." She paused. "I didn't know about it till now, so no."

"See?" Julian looked at David again, then closed his eyes. He didn't want to poke around in his head, or anyone's for that matter…but he had suddenly, with horror, remembered that Frost had said Arcade replaced them with _decoys._ Why couldn't he have done that in here, too? On the surface, everything about David seemed just fine. Real. He could sense his presence. But the moment he actually entered his mind, trying to see his current thoughts, he realized there was nothing there. Julian grabbed his head. "Arrrgh!"

 _KA-BOOM!_

Everyone was thrown back several feet into the snow. The David decoy's now-headless body sank to its knees.

"…" Julian closed his eyes. "I _hate_ this place."

Beside him, Laura nodded silently.

"What the hell happened?!" Santo gaped at him. "Didja just kill David, man?!"

"Oh my god." Julian glared at him. "Of _course_ not. He was a _decoy._ "

"…oh." Santo hesitated. "Wait, the whole time? All these years? There's never been a David? I freakin' KNEW he was too lame to be real!"

" _Santo!_ " Cessily buried her face in her palms. "Oh my god. No, just right now. Arcade must have planted him with our group to mess with us."

"Yeah." Julian paused as he realized something. "We have to go through everyone one by one. God dammit." He sat up, pinched the bridge of his nose with his metal fingers. "God. Fucking. _Dammit._ "

"Well, we just won't stand so close together." James shrugged. "That way if someone blows, it won't be a big deal."

"Except for the psychological trauma we're currently experiencing of wondering who among us isn't real, y'know." Cessily paused. "Hepzibah is _totally_ a murderbot."

Hepzibah's tail flicked, and she gave Cessily an indignant look. " _Excuse me?!"_

Kiden grinned. "I'd buy that."

"We'll know soon enough, Cess." Julian ran a hand through his hair. He didn't want to read everyone's mind, but he didn't exactly trust leaving the task solely to Ruth. "Everyone up. Get in a line, spread out. I'm going to check you all out." He paused, realizing he should first establish his own authenticity. "Ruth, you can tell I'm real, right?"

Ruth nodded. "You are, excuse me, as real as I am."

"Okay. Well, you just helped me fight Quire, so I think you're real too. A bot couldn't do that, right?" He didn't feel like poking into her chaotic mind again.

Ruth smiled. "But perhaps we are b _oth_ not real."

"…" Santo groaned. "Dudes. I'm totally gettin' a headache here."

"I think I'm fine with assuming Julian's real." James shrugged. "I mean, he's the one who figured it out in the first place, right?"

Nods all around.

"Okay." Julian paused, then began working his way down the line.

First he scanned Cessily, then Santo, who practically hit him in the face with a rude mental image, grinning. Julian rolled his eyes and continued, scanning James and then Hepzibah. He was disturbed to find her every third thought was about her shiny collection, but supposed it helped verify her authenticity. Then he reached Laura, who eyed him, her lips set into a line and her eyebrows drawn together. Laura, who he couldn't read at all.

His forehead wrinkled. Then he remembered the brief conversation he'd had with her, that morning, on the astral plane. "You're good."

"No." She leaned forward. "Ask me questions that only I would know the answers to."

"Okay." He paused. "Why did you name the girls what you did?"

"I did not name them. The janitor for their cell block did." She paused. "Bert."

"You're good."

"Ask me more questions."

"How much did they spend on room service in the hotel?"

"Fifteen hundred twenty-six dollars and eight two cents." Laura paused again. "You paid with cash they had taken from the facility."

"You're real."

"One more. To establish an average."

"What restaurant did I ask you to for our first date?"

"You did not ask me." Laura glanced at Cessily. "Your friends requested that we dine with them, and then left. The restaurant was _La Giravolta._ "

"Yeah, you're making me doubt if _I'm_ real." Julian moved down the line to Laurie and began to scan her mind. After a moment he nodded and looked at Rahne.

"Oh sh—"

 _KA-BOOM!_

"God dammit!" Julian and several others were thrown across the snow again, as the smoking, headless Rahne-bot fell to its knees then keeled over. He sat up, rubbed the back of his neck, wincing at the renewed stab of pain in his temples. He thought he had been standing far enough away while scanning, but apparently not. "Fine…that leaves Josh, Kiden, and the girls. Let's get this over with. Unless any of you want to make my life less painful and just fess up now?"

Josh grinned. "Nope, but I can take away the headache after."

Laurie adjusted her glasses. "Wait, that wasn't the real Rahne? But she responded to my pheromones yesterday!"

"The decoys are highly accurate." Laura frowned. "Perhaps genetic clones. I could not tell that they were not alive."

Cessily shuddered. "Arcade is a _monster._ "

Julian nodded, his hands forming fists.

There were no more surprises. Josh and Kiden were real, and afterward, he reached the girls, moving closer now. He knew that he could do it at a farther range, but he knew they distrusted telepaths, and thought they would probably be less anxious if he held their hands during the scan. "It won't hurt," he promised.

Alice wrinkled her nose. "But all telepaths are liars."

"What would I be lying about?" Julian knelt in front of her. "It'll be quick. I'm doing it for your own safety." He glanced at Gabby, who was watching him mistrustfully. He knew that she often guided their behavior.

"I trust him!" Betty said this, grabbing his hand. "Do it. See if there are any robots in my head."

"That's not…" Julian didn't bother finishing his sentence. It would be easier to just take this opportunity, instead of sparking some sort of debate between the girls. Betty's thoughts were quick and pointed, observations of the environment, the people around her, memories of her "pet" the smoke monster, and the occasional question. She was also highly aware of Gabby and was determined to prove her superiority. Something they'd probably have to talk about later. He opened his eyes and ruffled her hair. "You're good. Who's next?"

"Me." Gabby, her expression stern.

He took her hand and began the scan. Gabby's mind was calmer, more orderly, full of tactical analyses and keen observations of her environment, and her sisters, in a more concerned manner than Betty. Probably what Laura's mind was like. He had often wondered about this, what exactly went on in her head, all the things she never said out loud. He nodded at Gabby, then took Alice's hand and closed his eyes.

A giant rainbow unicorn charged out and knocked him backward, filling his mind like Santo's mental picture. This was followed by a blinding, rapid, colorful menagerie in succession consisting of a pink winged hippo, trolls, the frog people crowning her their queen, giant whales sword fighting in a lightning storm, warrior fairies, a birthday party _for_ pancakes, evil diamond witches, _LOUD NOISES!,_ Walter the cephalopod tapdancing—

He shook his head, hard. "God _damn_."

"Is Alice—" Laura began, a note of alarm in her voice.

Julian held up his hand. "No, she's good…just…" he opened his eyes and saw that Alice was watching him with wide eyes, her chin trembling. "Just a really vivid imagination." He felt that was an understatement, because he was mentally labelling Alice's brain as what Laura's would be like if she just ate handfuls of pills out of a bucket, but he didn't feel like making the girl cry. "She's good."

"Great." Cessily said this brightly. "So Rahne and David were decoys. No one else."

Josh frowned. "Where they ever here to begin with? Like, do we have to worry about having to rescue them?"

"I don't know." Julian got to his feet. "I think we just need to concentrate on what we do know for sure. That we're here, and we need to shut this all down. If we don't run into them on the way, we can search for them after…once the X-men send help."

"I second that." James glanced at the others. "No sense getting ourselves all scrambled now. Arcade does that enough already."

"Yup." Julian looked around the group. "Now…I'm going to bet the decoys were wired so Arcade heard everything we said."

"Aw, dammit!" Cessily closed her eyes. "That means he knows Frost is sending help."

"Fuck." James paused. "Well, he doesn't know _who_ she's going to send, so maybe he won't figure out how to stop them in time."

"Still sucks." Julian frowned. "As much as I hate to say it, Davidbot was right. We need to come up with an alternate plan to take him down. Hell…maybe it was a _hint._ "

Beside him, Laura nodded.

He glanced at her, noting that the way she was folding her arms pressed certain areas together in an appealing way. The collar of her t-shirt had been ripped somewhere during her night of roaming the jungle-slash-forest. Would anyone notice if he ripped it just a little more? Carefully? He didn't realize anyone was waiting for him to respond until Cessily stretched her arm out and elbowed him in the ribs. "Huh?" he asked, startled.

"I _said,_ maybe we should ask Ruth to predict how this is going to play out?" she repeated.

"Right." Julian looked over at Ruth again. "Care to chime in?"

"Excuse me, the trail. Dark clouds, and, yes, red. Winding downward." She paused. "That is, I am sorry, what I see."

Josh sighed. "Well that's helpful."

"You said, before, that Ruth meant the smoke monster would guide us." Laura looked at Julian, her eyebrows drawn together. "Perhaps this is the trail she is speaking of now."

"Cool!" Santo grinned. "So we just find out where the smoke monster is an'…" his grin faded. "An' then what? We couldn't beat Arcade when he was right in front of us."

Julian nodded. "We need to figure out how the hell he's augmented himself…and how to take the powers away. Or use them against him."

"Maybe we should start out bright and early tomorrow?" James pointed at the sky. "It's getting dark out and I don't fancy being out here if we don't have a plan."

"Feels like the day has been crazy short." Santo paused. "Anyone else notice that?"

"Uh huh." Laurie rubbed her elbows. "It's really cold out here, too."

"Yeah." Cessily frowned. "The other days were a little longer…and then _bam!_ The snow fell, and we've had like five hours of daylight? Four?"

Nods all around.

"Yes." Laura paused. "Perhaps Arcade controls the climate in this place."

"Damn." Santo paused. "I mean, doesn't do much to me and Cess…but sucks to be you guys."

Julian sighed. He had wanted to just leave now, before Arcade could cause any more problems, but there were the other "combatants" to keep in mind, and the fact that some of their group were small children. "Everyone back in the cave. We can toss ideas around for a bit before we hit the sack."

Cessily tried to smile. "Don't worry guys. We're going to get out of here tomorrow, I can _feel_ it."

"And if we don't, I'll just add your corpse to my shiny box." Hepzibah paused. "I'll probably have to get a bigger box."

Cessily's smile faded. "Oh my god, can you just like never talk again, please?"

Hepzibah rolled her eyes. "Relax, it was a _joke._ But I forgot you earthlings are too stupid for that kind of thing." She flicked her tail as she entered the cave.

"Why couldn't shehave turned out to be a murderbot?" Cessily mumbled.

* * *

Laura looked down at her clones, lined up against the wall, covered by their jackets. They had murmured protests at going to bed without food, or without completing their nighttime ritual of brushing their teeth, but it had not taken them long to fall asleep. She rubbed her upper arms, turning her eyes to the small camp fire in the middle of the cave. It had been a long day. Most of the others were now asleep after a fruitless hour of attempted strategizing, the cave filled with slowing vital signs.

"Cold?" Julian murmured. He was sitting beside her, one metal hand resting loosely on her hip.

She shook her head.

"Tired?"

"Yes." She hesitated. "How did I hurt you?" She spoke in a low voice too.

"Laura. I told you, I'm fine." He frowned. "I'm right here."

"Because of Josh." She paused. "When we reconnected…I believed that I was now able to resist trigger scent." She lowered her gaze. "If that is no longer the case—"

"No." His voice was firm. "Laura, you can't think like that. You promised me you wouldn't. Not anymore. That's behind us."

"I promised that I would talk to you." She paused, looked at him again. "I am, now."

"Okay." Julian was staring at her. "Well, splitting up again isn't an answer. It won't fix _anything._ You'll just hurt me more."

"You are alive this time because of Elixir." Laura arched her eyebrows. "What will you do when he is not here?"

Julian closed his eyes. "Laura. There are plenty of people out there who can hurt me. Who _want_ to hurt me. People like Arcade. And Bastion. It's not like I'd be safe without you."

She considered this. "Yes. But they can use me to hurt you."

"They can." He paused. "But if you take off on me again…you _will_ hurt me. And you won't be there to help me when I need it. See the difference?"

Laura hesitated. "Yes."

"Good." He paused. "Besides, like I was saying…I think I can erase the conditioning completely. Someday."

Her eyebrows drew together. "How?"

"Last night…and this morning…I _spoke_ to you."

"I do not remember that."

"No, you wouldn't." He gazed at the fire. "I did something new…I went to this place…Ruth called it the astral plane. I think I called you there too, or something." He paused. "But it wasn't you. It was what controls you when you black out. She calls herself Not."

Laura's forehead wrinkled, as did her nose. "What?"

"Yeah, it sounds weird." He shrugged, looked at her again. "I think it's actually you, just…stripped down, if that makes sense."

"Not really." She raised an eyebrow. "How will you erase it? If it is me?"

"I don't know yet." He frowned. "When we get out of here…I'll ask Frost for help. I think if I know what I can do on the astral plane…at least we have a starting point, right?"

Laura considered this. "Perhaps."

"Besides, I don't think what Arcade is using is even standard trigger scent. I think it was like a blend or something." He paused. "Shit, I don't know…maybe he collected some of Laurie's pheromones from yesterday?"

She nodded slightly. "If he controls the climate, it is possible."

"Which means it shouldn't exist outside of Murderworld." His hand tightened around her waist. "We'll destroy it…and then we'll erase the conditioning…and then you stop worrying about all this, okay?"

Laura hesitated. "Okay."

He nodded slightly. "I love you."

She closed her eyes. "I love you too."

A few moments passed, in silence. Laura was uncomfortably aware of how filthy she was, covered in dried blood and mud. At least her clothes were no longer damp from the snow.

Julian frowned, as if reading her thoughts. "Here, let me clean you up."

"Conserve your energy. You will need it to fight."

He ignored her, stretching her arms out and running his mind over her figure. She watched as the particles rose into the air like a mist. A few moments later, she was clean, her skin tingling slightly as if she had taken a hot shower.

Laura gave him a disapproving look. "You should not have done that."

He grinned. "Want me to take it back?"

She paused. "That would be a further waste of energy."

"Uh huh. How about a 'thank you'?" He slid his hand up her side. "You never thank me for _anything."_

"That is incorrect, I have thanked you many times." Laura paused. "Would you like me to list the occasions?"

"…" Julian's forehead wrinkled. "No. Damn, you're really never going to let anything slide, are you?"

"'Let anything slide'?"

"Never mind."

Laura hesitated. "I do not understand what you say unless you explain."

He frowned. "Well…it means to let things go. It's kind of a joke, that girls remember everything guys have ever done wrong." He paused. "Your memory is _crazy_ good."

Her eyebrows arched. "Female brains function with a prefrontal cortical control over the amygdala, resulting in enhanced information recall. Males tend to perform less intricate evaluation of risk-scenario contemplation."

He shrugged. "Hank got all excited and wants me to bring up a bunch of research papers now. I'll take your word for it."

The corners of Laura's lips turned upward.

"…" Julian focused on her mouth.

She leaned forward to kiss him, but after a moment, he pushed her away, shaking his head.

Her eyebrows drew together. She had forgotten, for a moment, that there was something else hanging between them. Here it was, the disgust she had expected earlier, regarding her past. He would never want to touch her again. He would never—he was standing now and offering her his metal hand. After a moment she accepted it and pulled herself up, confused. He led her to the cave entrance.

Laura's forehead wrinkled. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere else."

They walked outside, into the snow and darkness. She realized she had been wrong. Now that she had a moment to think about it, his vital signs were increasing, his heart beating faster, and she could tell he was releasing natural pheromones. "I do not want to go too far from the clones."

"We won't."

"Arcade may be watching."

"I'll cover us."

A few minutes later, he was pressing her against the trunk of a large, solid tree, his mouth on hers and his hands wandering all over her still clothed body. Laura did not make sounds. Although he had made a shield of snow around them, she did not wish to alert anyone to their presence. But she did grip his shoulders tightly with her fingers, under his t-shirt. By the time she reached back and stabbed her claws into the tree, she was certain he was still attracted to her. She reached up and stroked his cheek with her hand, watching as he caught his breath, his arms shaking around her. "Julian."

He opened his eyes, focused on her again. "Hmmm?"

"What Kiden said. My…past." Laura paused. "I know you—"

"No." Julian leaned closer, kissed her lightly, then continued. "I don't care."

She eyed him warily. "You don't?"

He frowned. "Whatever you did before…I don't care. You did what you needed to do." Pause. "You act so…confident." He gazed into her eyes. "Like you never doubt yourself. Like you know everything. I…I forget where come from."

"No." Laura hesitated. "I am…frequently uncertain."

"I know." He kissed her again. "Me too."

"Okay."

"Okay." He grinned. "Long as the girls think we know everything, we're good, right?"

The corners of Laura's lips turned up too. "Yes."

He stared at her. "I'll always want you."

Laura felt her face warming. But it was a gentle, pleasant sensation. "Good."

A moment passed. "Again?" he suggested.

She did not have to ask what he meant. "Yes."


	40. Chapter 40 - Down the Rabbit Hole

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Thanks for the reviews! Here's the next chapter, much faster than last as promised. And I have written ahead already, so updates should (for the near future at least) continue to be on more of a weekly schedule. Also, the pace picks up a bit as we start to learn more about Murderworld...mwahaha. This was a fun chapter to write. Hope y'all enjoy! :)

* * *

CHAPTER 40

 _Down the Rabbit Hole_

* * *

FIVE DAYS LATER

"I am hungry!" Alice complained loudly.

"And c-cold." Betty added this.

Gabby was silent, but her frown made her displeasure clear.

Laura closed her eyes. She had no food to offer her clones, even though she had spent the majority of her time hunting and foraging. All sources seemed to have dried up. She had not eaten herself since the antelope she had caught and cooked on the second day.

All work at forming an escape plan had failed. No other combatants had attacked the group, but they had been unable to find the smoke monster again, nor could they discover weaknesses in the barrier that trapped them in Murderworld. After thorough discussion, they had agreed that attacking Arcade directly was out of the question. Any attempts to face him as is came with a high likelihood of failure, and probably death for some or all of them. Not only could he adapt to all of their attacks and respond in a defensive manner, similar to Nimrod, but he had a huge range of offensive powers to select from, the full scope of which was unknown. And, as Cessily had pointed out, they had not even been able to defeat Nimrod in the first place. They had destroyed his chronal device and sent him back to his own time, which would not work here.

On the third morning, there had been a large earthquake and the cave had collapsed, further supporting their suspicions that he could control their environment. So now the group was wandering around, searching for a new base of operations, somewhere they could wait for help. As of now, outside assistance was their greatest and perhaps their only hope.

At first they had ventured toward a mountain range they could see in the distance, but another earthquake had caused massive avalanches and so they had changed direction. They had tried to reenter the jungle in the direction of the beach with the frog people, but a flash-flood had cut them off. Finally, they had headed in the direction of what was previously the savannah but was now a snowy plain. Nothing further happened to prevent this action, which made them suspect that Arcade wanted them to go in this direction. Along the way, they scanned the landscape for berries, animals, anything remotely edible, but there had been nothing so far. Technically they could survive without food for months, as they had plenty of water thanks to the abundant snow and Julian's powers, but they would soon be in a weakened state. Which was not ideal in a place full of potential enemies, waiting to attack.

"Here." Julian picked Betty up. "Alice, you want a piggy back?"

She nodded and grinned as he picked her up with his mind and dropped her on his shoulders.

Laura said nothing. Every time he used his powers in this way, she thought that he should conserve his energy, but he seemed determined, and the clones seemed to enjoy it. Besides, arguing took energy, too.

"Look!" Cessily was pointing in the distance.  
"What the hell is that?" Josh asked.

Laurie frowned, squinting through her glasses. "It looks…like a pear tree?" She paused. "Except it's glowing." She was holding his hand.

Laura had noted this behavior lately, and suspected it was related to the whispered conversation she had overheard two nights ago, as they were settling in for the night around a small fire under a section of trees with a thick canopy. Josh had begun it by telling Laurie that he still had feelings for her, and that he thought she did too, based on how she had attacked the Rahnebot. Laurie had gotten angry at him and stomped off into the darkness. At this point Laura had gotten up to tell her to not be foolish, but Julian had grabbed her wrist, nodding toward Josh, who was scowling. A moment later, he had risen to his feet and run after Laurie, hissing for her to wait. Julian had told her later that they needed to let them talk and resolve things for themselves. Like they had done.

"I don't know if we should trust a glowing tree in the middle of Murderworld." Cessily wrinkled her nose. "Just a hunch, y'know."

"I'm gonna try some." Santo announced. "Hate fruit, but I'm _that_ desperate."

"Oh my _god,_ Santo. No, do not eat the murderfruit!"

"Why? The burnin' hole in my stomach is gonna kill me anyway."

Julian looked at his friend, eyebrow raised. "You sure? I mean you eat like ten pizzas a week, and _that_ didn't kill you."

"Coz I'm immivincible. The pizza lover's dream."

"First of all, the word is 'invincible.'" Cessily's voice was flat.

"God dammit."

"Secondly…these pears or whatever are probably specially formulated to get around that." Cessily shook her head. "Santo, just don't eat the murderfruit. Please, I'm begging you."

Laura silently agreed. Arcade had likely been herding them here. She peered in the direction of the tree, focusing on her senses. There were faint vital signs.

"Fine." Santo sounded irritated. " _Fine._ Buncha pussies."

"There are people hiding near the tree." Laura's eyebrows drew together. "Nico. Molly. And two others, I do not know their names. Combatants twenty-four and twenty-five."

"Damn." Julian hesitated. "Want to go talk to them with me? And, uh, the girls?"

"I will come with you. But not my clones."

"I know you're worried about them." He frowned. "But…Nico and Molly saw you uh…cut me up. I think approaching them with a bunch of kids will go a long way to reassuring them that we come in peace."

"Or someone new could go…how about us?" Josh grinned, holding up Laurie's hand slightly. "We're friendly and harmless looking."

James grinned. "And they wouldn't be wrong."

"…" Josh glared at him, but said nothing.

Julian glanced at Laura again. "Thoughts?"

"Yes. Send them." She paused. "I can leave the group if needed."

"No, you're staying." His voice was firm. "There's not even a _question_ about that."

Laura said nothing.

"Well, wish us luck!" Josh said this with a grin, then turned and began heading toward the glowing tree, swinging Laurie's hand as he walked.

About a minute later, Cessily groaned. "God, they almost make me _sick._ "

"What? Why?" Julian glanced at her. "Thought you loved setting people up."

"Yeah." She shrugged. "But I wasn't shipping them."

Julian's forehead wrinkled, as did Laura's. "Shipping…?"

"Aw god, don't get her started." Santo frowned. "She'll go on forever and bring in stuff from _Lost_ and a bunch of other shit, and it just goes nowhere."

" _Santo!_ " Cessily gritted her teeth. "Just…ugh! It doesn't _go nowhere_. Relationships are really important, okay?"

"Yeah, that's why you don't have one yourself, huh?" Santo sneered at her. "Right?"

"I—" Cessily stared at him.

"Well guess what? I'm gonna go eat murderfruit! Yeah, that's right, I don't care what you say _either!_ " He turned and stomped after Josh and Laurie.

"What…what just happened?" Julian asked, blinking.

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "I think he is going to eat the…murderfruit…?"

"Arrrgh! _Santo!_ " Cessily snaked after him, sending up plumes of snow in her wake.

"God, there's so much freakin' drama among your friends, Laura." Kiden wrinkled her nose. "Guess no one knows how to manage being miserable."

"I guess we should go after them?" James suggested.

Hepzibah's tail flicked. "Why?"

"Because they're our _friends,_ Hep."

"Right, right, I keep forgetting." She folded her arms. "I wonder why that is." Her voice contained a heavy note of sarcasm. Laura was becoming more adept at recognizing this, having been almost constantly exposed to the gesture during the last few days.

James sighed, shook his head and started after Cessily. The others followed, including Ruth, who had not made comment but was frowning and rubbing her arms.

They caught up with Santo and Cessily after a few minutes. They were standing near the tree, arguing loudly.

"Santo, do _not_ eat the murderfruit!" Cessily sounded enraged. "It's the stupidest idea you've ever had, why can't you see that?"

"Because I'm starvin'! And I'm tired of you tellin' me things I shouldn't do but not tellin' me what I _should_ be doin'!"

"Oh my god, we are _so_ not having this conversation now!" Cessily covered her face with her hands.

"I'm wastin' my life on shitty things like _Lost_ and _Hunger Games,_ so yeah we're gonna have this conversation now!"

"You didn't even read _Hunger Games!"_

"Yeah well I was probably gonna and that's your fault! I almost read a book because of you!"

Julian glanced at Laura again, his forehead wrinkled. "Do you think I should, uh, split them up?"

She raised an eyebrow. He had told her not to intervene with Josh and Laurie, but now he thought they should? "I am not certain." Pause. "This is a…strange fight."

He nodded.

"I never _asked_ you to do these things!" Cessily glared at Santo. "Just back off and let me live my life, okay? Just because we're both nonfleshy doesn't mean we have to be together!"

"What the—" Santo glared back at her. "It's never been about the nonfleshy stuff! What the hell do you take me for? I can get _any_ girl I want! Right Jules?" He looked at him expectantly.

"Oh man." Julian winced. "Guys…I can't take sides here."

"Nonfleshy?" Kiden grinned at Laura. "That's my new favorite word. Actually, to be honest, I can't decide between that and _murderfruit._ "

"Dude, you are like _the_ worst wingman ever!" Santo threw his hands up in the air as he yelled this at Julian. "And that's weird, 'cause you can actually fly! God damn, why do I even bother with sucky losers like you?"

"…" Julian stared at him.

"I'm not a sucky loser!" Cessily snapped.

"You're on your way to bein' a crazy old cat lady!" Santo sneered at her. "I _know_ you tried to get Frost to bend the pet rules on your room."

"I LIKE CATS, OKAY? IS THAT A CRIME OR SOMETHING?!" Cessily shrieked this at him, clearly exasperated.

"I DON'T KNOW, IS IT?!" Santo roared back.

She whipped her hand back and threw a handful of snow at his face. Santo sputtered and returned fire, scooping up what amounted to a snow boulder. Cessily dodged at the last moment, and he roared in frustration.

"This is amazing." Kiden.

"Especially since neither needs food or warmth to live." James shrugged. "Who'd have thought they'd be the first to snap?"

"Guys, stop it!" Julian put down the girls he was carrying and charged in to intercept the fight. He was immediately hit by snowballs from both sides, but they bounced off his shield. He gritted his teeth and glared at his friends. "This is the _stupidest_ thing I've ever seen, and that's saying something! What about the people Laura sensed nearby? How is _this_ going to convince them we come in peace, huh?"

Cessily's eyebrows drew together. "I'm sorry." Her voice was much quieter.

"I'm not." Santo rolled his eyes as Julian shot him a pointed look. "Fine, look, I'm sorry I messed up all the peace shit. But not sorry to Cess. This is a _long_ time comin'."

"Well, you need to work it out later. When we're safe. Not now." Julian paused. "Shake hands so I know you're done."

Cessily stretched her hand out.

Santo folded his arms with the sound of scraping rocks. "I ain't shakin' _nothin'_ of hers."

Julian gave him an odd look, his eyes narrowing. "Dude. Seriously. What's up with you?"

"Nothin'." Santo stomped toward the fruit tree and tore a fruit off.

"…" Cessily stared after him.

"Hang on." Julian paused. "I don't like poking around in your minds, but I have a hunch that Quire—"

"Hey, get _away_ from that!" A voice shouted at Santo. A small girlish voice. Laura recognized it has Molly's. A few moments later, she had reached the tree. Just in time to knock the fruit out of Santo's hand.

"What the—" he gaped at her. "The hell're you doin'?!"

Molly put her hands on her hips and glared up at Santo. "That's _our_ fruit, and you can't have it! _Or else!_ "

"Oh yeah?" Santo looked down at her. "Well, I'm havin' the worst day and lookit me, eatin' your fruit like I don't give a shit! What you think you're gonna do about it, lil girl? I'm like ten times your— _OOOF!"_

Molly had just punched him. Hard. Santo flew backward threw the snow, bouncing several times, rock chips flying in all directions. "I'll skip you like a stone, that's what!" she yelled after him in a high-pitched voice.

Nico had reached the scene too and was drawing a blade down her wrist. " _When blood is shed, let the Staff of One emerge!_ " A long rod emerged from Nico's chest and jumped to her hand, which she aimed at Laura. _"CANNON._ "

Laura blasted off the ground and into the air, out of sight.

"Damn!" James, who had been standing near her, shielded himself as the snow washed over him in her wake.

"Watch the girls!" Julian shouted this at no one in particular as he shot after her, his eyebrows drawn together and his teeth gritted. He managed to catch her near the top of her arc with an arm around her waist as he swept past her. "You okay?"

"Y-yes." Laura closed her eyes. "Thank you."

"Guess you _do_ say it sometimes." He looked down at the ground. "What the hell are we up against here?"

"You said something about magic when we first encountered Nico."

"Right." Julian watched as Santo ran around Molly, yelling faintly when she stuck her foot out and sent him crashing to the ground. James and Hepzibah were joining the fight, but there was a yellow blast of light from Nico, and suddenly the latter disappeared. James let out a roar and flew at Nico, but a moment later was encased in what looked like a wall of ice. Cessily wrapped herself around it and shattered it, shouting something at Nico, but a moment later was hit by what looked like a personal thunderstorm, judging by the small cloud that had appeared overhead. Julian looked at Laura again. "This is falling apart quick."

"Where are Betty and Gabby?" Laura asked, her tone full of concern. Alice was now standing alone in the middle of the fighting, looking lost.

"…" Julian began to take them toward the ground, toward her. "I don't see Kiden either. Or Ruth. Could they have taken them somewhere?"

"Perhaps."

"We need someone who's resistant to magic." Julian paused. "I can try with my shield, but I've never tested it before."

"Or you could make her stop telepathically."

"I'll try." He set them down in the snow a little way from the fight, then they ran forward, Laura dropping to her knees beside Alice as she checked her for injuries. He saw Nico turning toward her again and stretched out his hand. _Sleep!_ He ordered, but saw her lips move, and a moment later, a field of energy shimmered around her. A shield. "Yeah, that's not going to work." His own shield slipped over his skin as he prepared to engage her with his fists.

 _WOOSH!_ Megan appeared right in front of Laura, her wings fluttering. "Phew, guys! I finally found you! I've been teleporting all over the freakin' place and— _whoa!_ " she shrieked as the purple bolt of energy destined for Laura enveloped her instead, then jerked her head in Nico's direction, her eyes turning black. "BIG MISTAKE!"

"Oh no—" Cessily yelped this, scrambling to her feet.

Megan reached into her own chest and pulled out a small dagger surrounded by red smoke, then charged at Nico among a flurry of glittery dust and wing flaps.

Nico tried to shield herself with what looked like a glowing green disk, but Megan's dagger passed right through it. "AAHHHH!" The former screamed.

"STOP IT!" Julian shouted, yanking Megan back with his mind, taking Nico's surprise as a chance to get a word in edgewise. "This is _exactly_ what Arcade wants!"

"You attacked us first!" Molly shouted. She was currently rubbing Santo's face in the snow, holding his head down with both her hands.

"No, Laura never attacked you! She hurt _me,_ remember?" Julian glared at the girl. "And I know she didn't mean to. So everyone just calm down and let's talk this over. Like people with _brains._ "

Silence. Nico looked over at Molly. "What do you think?"

"Um…" Molly hesitated, bit her lip. "Well—"

"RRRAAAGGGHHHH!" Megan screamed, about to stab Nico in the chest.

Julian saw this and dragged her backward again, then grabbed her shoulder with one metal hand and pried the dagger from her other. "No! No, stop it! BAD PIXIE! BAD!"

"What the—" Megan struggled, but could not escape his grasp. "Hey! No fair! You shouldn't be able to hold a piece of my soul like that! _Give it back!"_

"Yeah, I don't want it." Julian paused. "But if I give it back to you, are you going to put it away and not stab people anymore?"

"…" Megan closed her eyes. "Fine. Just gimme my dagger back."

"Here you go." He tossed it on the ground, away from Nico, and let her scramble away to pick it up. A moment later and she had reabsorbed the dagger, her eyes clearing to their normal shade of brown.

"Guys. No more fighting. PERIOD." Julian looked around the group, his voice firm. "I know we're all cold, and hungry, and miserable, and mad at each other…but this is exactly what Arcade _wants._ He's not planning to kill us…he's planning for us to kill _each other._ Which will only happen if we keep playing along like idiots." He paused. "If we work together, maybe we have a chance. But if we don't, we're dead. And dead is as bad as it gets. Got it?"

Silence.

Megan cleared her throat. "Sorry about that. I…I get a little crazy when I pull my soul dagger out." She pauses. "It makes my soul _hurt,_ y'know?"

Nico raised her eyebrows. "I _thought_ that was a soul construct! Why is it so small?"

"We were interrupted when it was being made." Megan hugged herself. "Thank god. I don't like to think about how much it would hurt if it was a full sized soulsword."

"Where's Hep?" James asked this, his voice filled with worry.

"Uh." Nico shifted. "Do you mean the squirrel girl?"

"Squirrel girl?" James paused. "Oh. Yeah. The tail. She's, um, an alien."

"She's…" Nico pointed at the ground. "She was right there. I, um, turned her into an actual squirrel." Pause. "I don't know where she is now. I think she ran toward the trees."

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Cessily slapped her hands over her mouth as James shot a glare in her direction.

Julian looked at her too, then over her shoulder, to where Molly was sitting on the back of Santo's head, keeping him pinned against the snow. He bit his lip so he wouldn't laugh either. He knew his friend would never, ever forgive him if he did. "Hey uh…Molly, right?"

The girl nodded.

"Mind letting my buddy Santo have a breather?"

"Oh. Sure." Molly slid off his head.

"GAAAHHHHH!" Santo gasped for air, shaking his craggy face, which had been flattened slightly from the pressure. And was glittering in places.

Cessily noticed this too. "Are those… _diamonds?_ "

"Shut up!" Santo sputtered. "Just shut the hell up, both of ya!" But the edge was gone from his voice. If Quire had been influencing him before, it was over now. He just sounded embarrassed. And his face looked stupid.

Julian looked away. The laugh was threatening to break free. _Focus,_ he ordered himself.

Laura approached Megan. "Please take Alice and the others back to the school."

"What about _you?_ " Megan asked in a surprised tone.

"I must find my other clones." Laura paused. "Return for me later."

"I'm staying too." Julian looked around the group. "Anyone else need to go right now?"

Heads shook all around.

"I probably shouldn't go till I undo the squirrel hex." Nico winced. "Sorry Molly. You can go if you need to. I can tell Barry and Angel."

"No, I won't go without you." Molly gave her a thumbs-up sign.

"Okay, so just Alice here, then." Megan knelt to look the girl in the eyes, fluttering her wings. "You ever teleported, sweetie?"

Alice gaped up at her. "Are you a real-life _fairy?!"_

Megan beamed and answered with a spray of her glittering hallucinogenic dust. "I sure am!"

"Oh boy." Julian had just remembered the things he'd seen in the girl's head when he was performing the decoy scans.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—" Alice began screaming, so loudly that more people than Laura clapped their hands over their ears, including Cessily and Megan, who had both been known to be loud themselves when they were excited.

"Alice, stop it!" Laura ordered, her face contorted.

"But—but— _fairies are real!_ This means that unicorns are too! I CAN HAVE A PET UNICORN! Please, please, can I? I will love it and care for it and ride it everywhere and—"

Julian gazed at the girl as she went on, wondering if he should erase the memory entirely from her head. But he didn't want to let himself cross the line, even once. If he started doing that whenever it was convenient… "We'll see. For now, go with Megan and find Ms. Frost." He paused. "She'll love to hear anything you have to say about unicorns, so make sure to bring it up."

"Yes." Laura was still covering her ears, afraid that the loud noises would resume.

Megan mouthed _sorry guys_ to them, then to Alice: "Let's go! _Sihal Novarum Chinoth!_ "

Nothing happened.

" _Sihal Novarum Chinoth! Sihal Novarum Chinoth!_ What the heck? _Sihal. Novarum. Chinoth!_ " Her eyebrows drew together. "Uh…okay? I've been teleporting around this place for like the whole day just fine. I don't get it."

Julian frowned. "Try teleporting like twenty feet."

Megan turned her head to the side. " _Sihal Novarum Chinoth!_ " _POP!_ As she and Alice disappeared in a cloud of pink. _WOOSH!_ As they appeared behind James. "Aw bloody hell! Arcade's got me too?!"

Laura closed her eyes. "Yes."

Santo groaned. "This _blows_. Only thing keepin' me goin' was the thought of orderin' a super deluxe when the X-men busted us out." His tone was full of defeat.

Cessily rolled her eyes. "And _I'm_ the 'sucky loser' here. Right."

"Bet Frost realized this was a possibility." James. "She sent you in alone just to see what would happen. She's got other teleporters at her disposal."

"Please don't remind me that Vanisher exists." Julian paused, looked at Megan. "Well, you can still help us. You can teleport us around instead of me dragging us everywhere…that'll save us a hell of a lot of time in trying to find our way out, right?" He wasn't very hopeful himself, but he was worried that some of the others were close to giving up.

"I guess." Megan sighed. "To be honest, I'm not exactly thrilled to be stuck here."

"Neither are we." He looked around the group. "So, who all is missing? Head count."

It turned out that in addition to Betty, Gabby, Kiden, Ruth, and Hepzibah, Josh and Laurie were nowhere to be seen, even though the latter two should be visible from here. He worked on dividing the group into search parties: one for Hepzibah containing James, Nico, and Molly, a second for Josh and Laurie consisting of Cessily and Santo, and lastly himself, Laura, Alice, and Megan to find the other missing individuals, who he assumed were together.

"Before we start looking…everyone take some fruit." Nico gestured at the tree. "It's safe, I promise. I spent a _long time_ tweaking it. I found this poisonous berry bush in the woods and made it grow stuff that is basically everything you need to survive."

"And it tastes great!" Molly added enthusiastically.

They began to pick fruit, trading tentative glances.

Santo went first, throwing the pear into his mouth whole.

"That's not how you eat fruit." James mumbled this, his forehead wrinkled.

"Don't care." Santo brightened. "Guys, the murderfruit's amazin'! Better than sex!" Pause. He deflated slightly. "Not as good as pizza though. Nothin' is."

Laura took a bite, then shook her head. "You are incorrect. I would rather have sexual intercourse than this fruit. Or pizza." She said this loudly. "You should not speak without experience."

Julian made a mild choking noise.

Santo blinked at her, his mouth agape. "Did you just…"

Cessily grinned and patted her on the shoulder. "Laura, you are _officially_ my best friend ever, in the history of ever."

"Dude, X just burned me." Santo paused and patted her shoulder too. "I feel special."

Laura had not intended to state anything other than a fact, but the corners of her lips turned upward slightly. She was at least pleased to see them agreeing on something.

Julian managed to clear his throat. "Come on guys. Hurry up."

They finally finished eating. As each party took off in a separate direction, Laura spoke again, her eyebrows raised. "Are you certain that Cessily and Santo should be paired in the same group?" They had seemed more relaxed just now, but that might end while they were alone.

"I figured this'll give them a chance to work things out." Julian grinned. "And this way, no one has to hear them whine about each other, right?"

Laura nodded. "Yes. I had not thought of that." She paused, remembering what he had said earlier, before Molly interrupted him. "You mentioned Quire earlier?"

"Maybe." His grin faded. "I didn't get a chance to actually poke around…but there was something weird about that, you know? Santo's usually so easy going." He shrugged. "But I guess you never know. He's hungry, and I know he and Cess have some issues…"

"They dated a while back." Megan fluttered her wings. "It was pretty serious too, then Cessily heard that Frost had located Kevin. They started fighting a lot and broke up after."

"Oh." Julian's forehead wrinkled.

"It was sooo bloody awkward." Megan's voice was growing more animated. "We were all in the rec room, see, well 'cept you, since you were off looking for Laura, and well I guess Nori was upstairs talking to David, but the rest of us were watching the news, and the teachers passed by in the hall and Rogue mentioned that Kevin had been sighted, and Cessily just _lit up_ and ran out of the room, I was like whoa! And Loa was like—"

"I get the picture." Julian cleared his throat. "We should focus here. Let's handle this in segments…teleport us a hundred feet or so, and we'll look for tracks."  
"Oh, okay!" Megan saluted him. " _Sihal Novarum Chinoth!_ "

* * *

 _WOOSH!_

On the fifteenth teleport, they found themselves standing beside Kiden and Ruth.

The latter did not seem surprised. "Pardon. Here they are."

"How did you manage to pop into my time field?" Kiden asked, her eyes wide.

"Teleportation spell." Megan fluttered her wings. "Why did you guys sneak off in the first place?"

Kiden shrugged. "Kids saw the smoke monster and went running…so I stopped time to catch up. But we didn't manage to."

"Where are my clones?" Laura asked.

"In there." Ruth pointed at a very small entrance that neither had noticed, low to the ground and half-hidden by bushes.

"Betty! Gabby!" Laura said, approaching the dark hole. "Come out, _now._ "

There was no answer.

"Julian…" she looked up at him.

He knelt beside her. "Girls, we need you to answer."

Still no response.

"Perhaps they are stuck." Laura made a fist. _Snkkt!_ "We could make the tunnel larger."

"I've got it." Julian put a hand on her shoulder. "Let me handle it, in case it caves in or something. I don't trust this place at all."

They got to their feet, then he reached out toward the tunnel entrance with his hand, channeling his thoughts through his fingers, feeling around to see if he could find them without destroying anything. The tunnel was extremely long, but at the very end he could sense a large space. He glanced at Laura. "There's a passage downward, which leads to a cave or something. Underground."

Her eyebrows drew together. She did not smell anyone that she had not expected to, but perhaps this led to something important. Such as Arcade. She looked at Megan. "Can you take us down below?"

"I'll try." Megan cleared her throat. " _Sihal Novarum Chinoth!_ "

Nothing happened.

"Nope, whatever's down there is blocking my teleportation spell. Same way the dome blocks me." She fluttered her wings. "Maybe send Alice down? Tunnel's about her size, innit?"

"No." Laura's voice was firm.

Alice's eyes widened, and she fell to her knees at Laura's feet, clasping her hands together. "Oh! Let me! I will be the stealthiest, most graceful creature that you have ever seen, going down the rabbit hole, and creeping along and rescuing my sisters—"

"Sorry." Julian picked her up with his mind and set her on her feet. "We know you mean well, but you're going to stay right here, got it?"

Alice folded her arms and stuck out her lower lip, mumbling something he didn't catch.

Laura looked at him, sensing what he was planning. "You cannot go down there alone either."

"Someone has to. I've got the best powers for the job…and I think _you_ should stay here with Alice, so she doesn't go missing meanwhile." He paused. "I'll be careful."

Her forehead wrinkled. "Do not engage anyone. _Only_ retrieve my clones."

"Yeah. I promise." He paused, then gave her a quick kiss and faced the tunnel again, moving material out of his way with his mind, just enough so he could crawl through.

Laura placed her hand on Alice's shoulder to ensure that she did not take off after him, then glanced at Ruth. "You think this is the way to Arcade?"

Ruth said nothing.

"One of the clones—Betty, I think—kept saying something about how the smoke monster knew the way." Kiden shrugged. "Then blind girl here said we should follow them…so I guess? I know less than you do, really."

"Thank you for following my clones." Laura glanced at Megan. "Perhaps you should check on the other groups, see if they require help. We will wait here until Julian returns."

Megan nodded. " _Sihal Novarum Chinoth!_ " _POP!_ As she disappeared.

Laura looked at Kiden again. "How have you been? Before this."

"Okay." Kiden frowned. "Tatiana kind of got a job at a diner. And Bobby's been interviewing all over town while I babysit L'il Bro. We've all been crashing at her pad. I mean, my powers make it easy to hide anywhere and take anything I want…but life's no fun if you're just alone all the time, you know?"

Laura nodded slightly.

Kiden pointed at Alice. "So you keep calling these kids your 'clones.' Is that for real, or like, just a weird pet name?"

Alice looked up at Laura. "I am your pet?"

"No. They are my clones. We rescued them." Laura thought for a moment. "But…I think of them as my sisters. I intend to raise them."

"So kind of like your kids." Kiden shook her head. "Aw man, I feel _old_ now! Thanks."

Laura smiled slightly. "This one is named Alice. The others are Betty and Gabby." She paused, her smile fading. "The way you met me…that is no longer who I am."

"Good. I'm glad." Kiden hesitated. "Why were you doing that to yourself? I mean, I get making ends meet…but you clearly have other skills."

Laura looked down at Alice, her forehead wrinkling. She was silent for several seconds. She did not want to talk about this, but Kiden was her oldest friend. Her first friend. Perhaps she deserved to know. She took a deep breath. "I am…a clone. I was made in a laboratory, to be a weapon." Pause. "I lived in a cage and killed who I was told. When I broke free, I did not know how to _be_ free. I…I allowed myself to be used, because it was familiar." She raised her eyes again. "But I am learning that I do not need to do what others tell me, if I do not want."

"Damn." Kiden's eyebrows had drawn together. "I knew it was bad. Why didn't you tell me? I would've helped you."

"I did not know how." Laura paused and looked over at the bushes as she detected a faint zipping sound. "Nori?"

A moment later, Nori stepped out, her forehead wrinkled as if she were very disturbed, "Um, hi."

Laura hesitated, apprehensive. The last time she had seen Nori, she had attacked her. And the time before that, she had been following Julian into his room. She knew that she was no longer a threat but could not help feeling uneasy. "Hello."

Alice growled and bared her teeth.

Nori watched them uncertainly.

Laura closed her eyes. She knew that her clone had registered the change in her vital signs on seeing Nori. "Stop it Alice."

"Should I be freezing her?" Kiden asked.

"No." Nori frowned. "Look…I'm sorry about beating you guys up. I was…really mad…and then the shark girl got me fired up…told me about what Keller did to her…" she hesitated. "Imagine my surprise when she exploded the other day."

Laura raised her eyebrows. "She was a decoy?"

"Is that what you call the creepy bot things?" Nori hesitated. "I guess you guys ran into some too?"

"Rahne." Laura paused. "And David."

"What, really?" Nori closed her eyes. "Oh thank god. I've been so worried about that idiot…and he's not even _here._ " She paused. "Arcade's such a piece of shit."

"Yep." Kiden folded her arms. "But the bigger they are, the harder they fall, right?"

"Right." Nori looked at Laura again. "Speaking of pieces of shit…I saw Keller crawling into that hole." She pointed at the tunnel opening with her thumb. "What're you guys up to?"

"Two of my…sisters…are down there." Laura did not want to let Nori know that they were clones. She remembered how she had called her that, once, and how it had felt bad. "He is retrieving them."

"You two together, then?" Nori asked, eyeing her.

Laura gave her a firm look. "Yes."

"Good for you." Nori hesitated for a long moment. "Laura…I had no idea you had it so hard. I, uh, kind of overheard what you were telling...uh, what's your name?"

"Kiden." Kiden folded her arms. "Laura's friend."

"Kiden. Nice to meet you." Nori frowned. "I swear, I'm not going to attack you again. I just got…confused." She paused. "I'm sorry. Friends?"

Laura eyed her. She did not smell a lie, but then again, she could not even verify this was actually Nori, since Julian was in the tunnel and Ruth seemed to be catatonic. So she nodded, a small gesture of acknowledgement.

"None of it was your fault." Nori wrinkled her nose. "I'm still mad at Keller, but I don't think it was his, either. Just…bad timing."

Kiden cleared her throat. "Speaking of time…what's taking him so long?"

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She had been wondering this too.

* * *

Julian crouched in the mouth of the tunnel, using his mind to avoid falling into the room beneath him. He'd descended a long way, at least a hundred feet before the tiny pinprick of light at the other end turned into a speck, then a circle, and finally something that he could distinguish: an entrance to a room. With metal floors. And equipment. Machinery. Lights. Something he probably wasn't supposed to be seeing. Something that wasn't part of Murderworld, but rather its internal operations.

He'd been watching it for a few minutes now. The space extended far beyond what he could see, to all sides. No one had entered, but he didn't want to be hasty and get caught. He wasn't able to sense anyone telepathically, neither Arcade nor the girls. The first he had never been able to sense, though. As for the girls, he was somehow certain they were there.

Finally he slipped out of the hole and to the ground, casting his eyes around the space. There were monitors on the wall that he hadn't been able to see from his previous angle. They displayed various views of the jungle, beach, and field, as well as other areas they hadn't been to yet. His forehead wrinkled. Exactly how big was Murderworld? And where could Arcade have possibly installed an arena this size without anyone noticing?

He finally began to move through the room, being careful not to make much noise. As he headed to the tunnel, he stopped, remembering a time Logan had grabbed his shoulder as he started down a hallway, growling that he smelled lasers. He reached out and sent a wave of energized particles through the space, his eyebrows drawing together as he saw the lines vibrating through the green light. He vowed to buy Logan a beer the next time he saw him, but for now he focused on finding the sources of the beams and snapping the internal mechanisms with his mind. A moment later and he was slipping down the hallway, concentrating on whether he could sense anyone around him.

He passed through an identical room and encountered another hallway, at which he repeated his procedure of busting the lasers. After this, he entered a room that was different. It was empty except for a metal platform at the center. On this swirled a dense ball of black smoke. The smoke monster. He could hear the deep growling, hissing noises, but it seemed like the creature was asleep. He looked around the room, searching for any signs of Betty and Gabby.

There was a muffled response, right beside him. On the platform. From the swirling ball of black smoke.

 _Betty? Gabby?_ He asked, placing his hand on the platform.

 _Yes, we are here._ Gabby said this.

 _Where's here? How do I get to you?_

 _I do not know._ Gabby paused. _It is dark and warm and…_

 _Soft!_ Betty chimed in. _We were riding Smokey and then he went to sleep. I think he wanted you to come find us._

Julian paused. _Are you in any trouble?_

 _No, we are quite comfortable._

Gabby hesitated. _Actually, we were taking a nap._ Pause. _Please do not tell Laura how careless we have been._

 _I won't._ He paused. _I want to help you get out, but I'm going to leave you here for a bit. I think this might be a way out of Murderworld. Can you wait? Is that okay?_

 _Yes,_ they said together.

Julian nodded to himself. He didn't want to let them out of his sight again, but for one thing, he didn't know how the smoke monster worked. For another, he didn't know how big of a racket it would make if he did try to wake it up. He wasn't alone in here. A voice had begun in the next room during his conversation with the girls. He tuned into it now.

"…oh I wish Miss Coriander were here to see this!" Arcade. Julian's lip curled as he flattened himself against the wall. He still couldn't sense him. Every instinct was telling him to try and take him by surprise, but he'd promised Laura he wouldn't attack. So he remained where he was, willing his heart to slow down so he could hear more details.

"Hmm." Arcade made some crunching noises. He was eating. Was that…popcorn? Yes, yes it was. "Should I…it's so tempting! He's been doing excellently so far…really getting into the spirit of things, even without me stirring the pot…but he's just not that _entertaining_ , you know? All his powers are in the head, and you can't _see_ in their heads."

Julian wrinkled his nose. This was either about himself, or Quire, the two male telepaths in Murderworld. He suspected the latter, since he hadn't been playing the game himself.

"You promised you wouldn't interfere." A robotic female voice.

"I make a lot of promises." Arcade paused. "I don't keep them _all_ , of course. That would be stupid and boring."

Julian raised an eyebrow. So Arcade had a robot assistant, too, in addition to the decoys. Now that he thought about it, everything about Murderworld seemed mechanical. These rooms full of machinery…the decoys…his assistant…the Nimrod arm…it was all the same. Maybe they just had to figure out how to destroy the main system.

"Incoming transmission from… Taneleer Tivan." Another robotic female voice said this.

Julian stiffened. He felt like he knew that name from somewhere. But where?

"Answer." Arcade leaned back in his chair with a loud _creak_.

"Arcade!" A familiar voice barked.

Julian closed his eyes. The senile alien. The Collector. He felt a deep wave of annoyance.

"Hello, Taneleer. How's it hanging out there in space? Finding ways to keep busy, I assume?" Arcade drawled this.

"Do you have my metal yet?"

"What metal?" Arcade's tone was full of boredom.

"Don't you 'what metal' me! The adamantium and the celestial techno organics. I was very specific about which specimens I wanted."

Julian rubbed his face with his palms. "Oh fuck off." He mouthed this, unable to help himself.

"I got everyone on your list…and then some." Arcade paused. "They're here. Just be patient."

"I _want_ my _metal!_ " The Collector made some banging noises. "I _get_ what I _want!_ Don't make me come down there, Arcade! I will _crush_ you like one of your earth insects!"

"Patience, patience." Arcade still sounded bored. "I said, I _have_ them. They're not escaping. You'll get the metal once I finish defleshing them."

"Well, what's taking so long? I gave you access to my collection so you could finish it _quickly!_ This isn't quick!" The Collector paused. "And I still fail to see why you needed all that celestial terraforming equipment in the first place, for a simple job like this. Or counterspell artifacts. Neither of those mutants are magical. What exactly are you up to?" Another pause.

Arcade didn't answer.

"That's right, my collection is catalogued. You took exactly forty-two pieces, Arcade. Did you _really_ think you could trick one of the Elders of the Universe?! Stick to the plan or I'll send Carina to repossess the rest of the pieces!" The Collector's voice had risen sharply.

"Hey, you asked _me_ to do this because they gave _you_ too much trouble!" Arcade sighed loudly. "I'm not trying to trick you. Just be patient. This needs to be done properly. Or not at all. If you don't want the pieces to be _damaged,_ that is."

Pause.

"Damaged? No, I don't want that." The Collector was silent for a few more moments. "Fine. Take more time. But you better have that metal in twenty-four earth hours, or I'll come and get it myself. _And_ the pieces you borrowed. All of them."

"Seventy-two hours." Arcade sighed. "I have a _process,_ Taneleer. And you're _immortal,_ what do you care about an extra day or two?"

"Grrr! _Fine._ Seventy-two earth hours! _End transmission!_ "

There was a staticky sound.

"Stupid old fool." Arcade mumbled this. "Just a senile alien. Doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about. We'll have to make a game for _him_ sometime. Wouldn't that be something, a Murderworld for Celestials? Oooh! Copyright!"

Julian made a fist. So that was how Arcade was pulling this all off. The Collector. That asshole who just wanted to steal his and Laura's body parts so he could toss them in his junk piles and forget about them. He didn't know how yet, but he was determined to kick both of their asses as hard as he could.

First, he had to get as much info as possible, then grab Betty and Gabby if he could on his way back to the tunnel. That meant he had to visually survey the room Arcade was sitting in without being noticed, because it was no doubt the command center for Murderworld. Knowing what was in it would be important to any plans they made later to destroy it. He pressed his front against the wall and began to inch his head around the edge of the doorway.

To his luck, he found that Arcade had his back to him. He was sitting in a large chair in front of a multitude of monitors on which he was watching Murderworld. The central screen was focused on Josh, Laurie, and the two strangers, speaking in the forest-slash-jungle near the murderfruit tree. Arcade was drumming his fingers of one hand on his arm rest and eating from a bowl of popcorn with the other.

To one side of him was an empty chair, and to the other was a sleek looking robot, its skin made of shiny, brightly colored plastics. Obviously not a decoy. Its visor was quite wide, and a red light zipped back and forth inside it. Below the monitors stretched a large panel covered with knobs, buttons, blinking lights, and sliders. Probably Murderworld's control panel. The source of all the earthquakes and avalanches and flash floods that had caused them so much trouble.

Again, Julian found himself tempted to just jump him. To smash his fists through the panels and put an end to this. But he knew he couldn't risk it. There was no way it was as easy as it looked. For starters, he had tried three times to create an air pocket in Arcade's brain, and his heart, but nothing happened. His crisp white suit was probably lined with vibranium or something.

After a moment, Julian swept his eyes around the room. He searched for further doors on the walls, floors, and ceiling, but saw none. Good. Only one exit to cover, when they barged in here.

"I know I promised to keep my fingers out of the pie, but I think I _am_ going to offer him a deal." Arcade was zooming in on a screen.

To Julian's horror, he saw himself. He looked up but saw no cameras.

"You know best, boss." His robotic assistant.

Arcade laughed, looked over the back of his chair. "Come here, Hellion." He moved his finger, and Julian skidded toward him, even though he tried to resist. "Sit." He deposited him in the empty chair beside him. "So, as you heard, the Collector's paying me big bucks for those hands of yours."

Julian glared at him but was unable to move. Or speak. The chair was doing something to him.

"I want the game to go on _much_ longer than seventy-two measly hours." Arcade shrugged. "Tell you what. You give me your hands...get X-23 to give up her skeleton…and I'll enable Godmode and let you two go crazy."

Julian glared at him more.

"I can't tell if that's a yes." Arcade paused. "I could just take X-23's metal and dump her corpse in a snowbank. But your hands are kind of…tricky. Your physiology is all wound up in it. They won't come off without your consent." He paused. "You'd think I could just knock you out and take them. Nope! I tried doing that one night, had some brave bots wipe your party with gas and bring you here, but you had some kind of background subconscious thing going on and, well, here we are. So? Deal?"

Julian continued to glare at him.

"Oh, _fine._ " Arcade rolled his eyes.

"Fuck you!" Julian spat, suddenly able to speak.

"Oh c'mon. _God mode._ You _gotta_ be curious. You could totally waste that Quire prick, get back at him for all the problems he's been causing you guys lately."

Julian's lip curled. So he had been right. "No."

Arcade stroked his chin for a moment. "Okay…how about this. You two give up your metal…and I'll not only replace your hands, but I'll give you _and_ X-23's little flock of clones a free pass out of here. Don't even need to kill anyone. That's sweet deal. Going once…going twice…sold?"

"No, psycho." Julian gritted his teeth. "No deal, ever, no matter what you offer me. Have fun prying my hands off my cold, dead body."

"Now _there's_ an idea." Arcade pursed his lips. "Actually, my original idea. But I was kind of hoping you'd take the deal, because then Murderworld could keep on churning. This is my best incarnation yet. If I have to rush the process, it'll be over really fast. I'm pretty sure you and your petri dish girlfriend are going to be the last ones standing."

"Why don't you kill me yourself?" Julian ground out.

Arcade shrugged. "I don't get my hands dirty."

Julian's eyes narrowed. "You can't, can you? I bet whoever 'Carina' is already took whatever you were using to overwhelm us."

Arcade gave him a sharp look. "Get him out of here!"

There was a deafening roar. A moment later, he was tumbling to his hands and knees, on the surface of Murderworld again, the chair nowhere to be seen. Arcade had teleported him out.

"Julian!" Laura was running toward him, her eyes darting back and forth as she searched for the girls. Alice was right behind her. "Where are—"

"They're safe. Couldn't get them now, but they're safe." He paused, shaking his head to clear it and pointing at the ground. "Arcade's down there. He's vulnerable. Well…I couldn't take him alone, but if we all go down there, we can kick the shit out of him. He's doing this all with mechanical stuff." He paused again to catch his breath. "The motherfucking Collector hired him to get our metal."

"…" Laura closed her eyes. "We should have killed him."

"But you said we are a no-kill family." Alice murmured this.

"That's right." Julian reached up and patted her head, then looked at Laura again. "I don't think we can do anything to the Collector…but Arcade, yes. We just need to get everyone together. Which should be easy, with Megan."

"I asked Megan to check on the others."

"Oh." He shrugged. "Well, we'll just fly over there, then."

 _Zzzzzipppp!_ Nori suddenly appeared beside Laura.

Julian scrambled backward, immediately shielding himself. "Look out!" he shouted.

"Oh, jeez, relax." Nori rolled her eyes. "I joined you guys while you were messing around in the tunnels. I already apologized to Laura for attacking your group on the beach." She paused. "I can't say I regret it, but I _can_ say it won't happen again."

"…" Julian looked at Laura for verification.

She folded her arms but nodded slightly. "You will need to check her."

He looked at Nori again, his eyebrows drawing together. "Uh, so we discovered that some of us are—"

"Killer robots, yeah, I get it." Nori arched her eyebrows. "Scan me, or whatever. Then let's get down to business. I can go get Megan, so we can teach Arcade what happens when he messes with X-men. I'll be a hell of a lot faster than _you._ "

Julian got to his feet, trying not to let his embarrassment show. He knew that Nori could have easily wiped him out just now if that had been her intention. But apparently it wasn't, and as disgruntled as he was with her, he wanted to beat Arcade more. So he closed his eyes and very quickly read her mind. "You're good."

"Cool." Nori paused. "Heads up on directions?"

Julian pointed. "Two other groups. One near the glowing tree, in the forest or whatever, and the others are searching the flats for a magical squirrel."

"…" She raised an eyebrow. "Um…okay?"

"Come back here when you find them. And if you run into anyone at all…even Quire…see if you can convince them that we found a way out." Julian paused, looked over as Kiden jogged up. "You. Your time stuff. Is it ranged or area of effect?"

Kiden blinked. "Wha?"

"Can you stop time anywhere you want, or just around you?"

"Uh, around me."

"How far around you? And sphere or dome?"

Kiden shrugged. "I dunno, like twenty feet? I haven't exactly bothered to whip out a tape measure before, although I bet _you_ have."

Nori grinned. "You're pretty cool."

"…" Julian closed his eyes. "Why are you still here?"

"Hrumph." She was suddenly gone, leaving a mist of snow in her wake.

Julian looked at Kiden again. "Look. It would be good if we could stop time Arcade's gross lair, so nothing changes while we get everyone together. It's a long way underground, probably a hundred feet. From what you're telling me, you can't do it from out here, right?"

"Probably not." Kiden frowned. "And even if I could…my powers didn't work on Arcade. When I tried on that first day, he kept moving. It was really creepy."

He frowned. "Damn."

"Yes." Laura paused. "Are you certain that my clones are safe?" Her voice wavered slightly from its usual monotone.

"They're fine." He looked at her, then took her hands in his. "They're…somehow _in_ the smoke monster…" he saw the alarm in her eyes but kept talking. "Betty said they were riding it when it went to sleep. And it's warm and soft in there. They were fine with waiting. If we woke the smoke monster up with Arcade around, I think it would be more dangerous."

Laura gazed at him for a moment, then nodded slightly, hesitantly.

"They'll be fine, promise." He squeezed her hands, then frowned. "Where's Ruth?"

"Over there." Kiden looked back the way she had come.

Ruth was still standing in place, her features fixed into a frown, and sweat beading on her forehead. Blood was rolling down from her nose.

"Aw, shit." Julian paused. "I think she's doing something on the astral plane. I need to jump in and help her."

Laura frowned, concerned again.

He sighed. "It's probably just Quire. We beat him last time."

"Be careful." She paused. "Do not exhaust yourself. We have combat ahead."

"Yeah yeah." He closed his eyes. "Always plenty of _that_ in my future."


	41. Chapter 41 - End Game

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Thanks for the reviews! I won't post much as a note, just want to say that I'm really excited to finally be getting to this chapter, as it reveals where the story is heading next. Hope you enjoy, thanks for reading! :)

PS- My in laws are coming for a week starting next Thursday, and my work permit has finally been approved (!PARTY!), so while I'll try to get the next chapter posted in a timely fashion, there might be a slight delay, just wanted to note this in case!

* * *

CHAPTER 41

 _End Game_

* * *

Julian found himself standing in the middle of a vast white expanse. Quire and Ruth were nowhere to be seen. He shook his head, lip curling in annoyance. Really? Why the hell wouldn't he just appear right where he needed to be? Why would he have to _travel?_ It wasn't even a real place. After this, he was never going to return here. Then he remembered his promise to Laura, about helping her with her trigger scent conditioning and sighed in resignation, looking up into the blankness above. "Just…put me wherever the action is at."

 _You ARE where the action is at._ Quire's voice, from all around him, gleeful. _I trapped you in your own mind, dumbass. Just like I got blind girl._

Julian closed his eyes. "You know what? I'm _glad_ I wouldn't let you hang out with me before. You're almost as creepy as Arcade."

 _I'm not creepy. I'm punishing you for what you did. It's_ justice _. You don't deserve to win this thing…to walk out of here like you're better than us. You're not._ He paused. _You're as stupid as your friend Santo, you know that?_

Julian gritted his teeth. For a moment he wanted to tell the other telepath to go to hell, but he knew that he had to be the bigger man here. Because they needed to save their energy. So he remained silent, racking his mind for something he could say that would convince Quire that he wasn't the enemy. His thoughts drifted back to what Logan had once told him, when he had said that the people who ran the facility deserved to die. "It's not about who _deserves_ what, Quire. No one deserves to live more than anyone else. It's like ants…you kill them so they won't come back and spoil your picnic, right?" He paused. "I'm not explaining it very well. But the point is, there is no justice. There's only what you need to do to stop people who won't stop otherwise."

Quire paused. _Your point?_

"I haven't bothered you in ages." Julian looked around himself, trying to see if there was a way out that he hadn't noticed. "I'm minding my own business. I have no plans to mess with you in the future, either…so you have no reason to go after me like this. You should worry about whoever _is_ going after you." Pause. "The asshole who kidnapped and trapped you in _Murderworld,_ for example _._ "

 _Nice try._ Quire was sneering, he could hear it. _This is_ justice. _You're going to get what you deserve._

He couldn't see anything, still. Only white. Then he remembered Ruth's singsong voice. _Anything is possible, yes, in the astral plane._ The way they had defeated Quire last time with things they had "conjured" out of thin air. So all he had to do was imagine it, and it would happen, right? But what should he imagine? That reminded him of something. A recent experience he'd had with a vivid imagination. Oh, yeah. He smirked. He was going to enjoy this.

 _What are you smirking about?_ Quire demanded, sounding annoyed. He had obviously expected his captive to be shaking in his boots by this point.

Julian focused on the sky as hard as he could, imagining that it was filled with a giant rainbow unicorn. To his relief, it did. He wasn't sure he was doing Alice's version justice, but it had exactly the impact he was going for.

 _WHAT—what are you doing?!_ Quire's voice was full of confusion. _Why a unicorn? What is this—what—_

 _BAM!_ as he hit him with the rest of the flashing, overwhelming images he'd collected over his short period in Alice's head. Once he started, it wasn't hard to keep going, tossing in images of giant pizzas and fireworks. By the time he got to the birthday party _for_ pancakes, Quire was groaning, his head full of bright neon flashes and senseless images and _LOUD NOISES!_. For the finale, he added a huge back-up accompaniment of spiders to the tapdancing purple octopus. They filled the sky with the thunder of their footsteps, like a marching band. Hell, why not. He gave them trumpets and drums, and costumes complete with red coats and tall fuzzy hats with chin straps—

 _STOP!_

He was standing in the clearing again, wiping the small trickle of blood away from his nose and watching as Ruth gasped and began to move her head back and forth, as if looking around. Quire had fully retreated, probably nursing a massive headache.

Laura was watching him, her eyebrows raised. "That did not take long."

"Yeah." Kiden sounded surprised. "And from me, that's saying something."

"Urgh." Julian realized that _he_ had a massive headache, too. He cooled his fingers with a thought and rubbed his forehead. "Think I got him."

"Excuse me…what happened?" Ruth seemed disorientated. "It was all dark, and then—"

"Don't worry about it." Julian was aware that Alice was watching them, and he didn't feel like telling her that he had just used the contents of her mind to defeat a telepath that was far more competent than himself. He patted her head, feeling a little guilty. "Nori or Megan come back with the others yet?"

Kiden shook her head. "No sign of them."

Laura frowned. "Perhaps we should check on them."

"Maybe." Julian looked at Ruth. "Would you mind? My skull's splitting over here."

"Do you need ducky tape?" Alice asked solemnly.

"…" Laura looked at her. "What is that?"

"Logan says most things in life can be fixed with either ducky tape or a magical grease called dub delight forty."

"'Dub delight forty'?" Kiden asked, the corners of her mouth quivering.

Julian gazed at the girl too. "…do you mean duct tape?"

Alice hesitated. "I am not sure. It is silver. I think it is made from unicorn hair and something with duck quacks. Logan said it was very strong, he uses it to make things stop moving when he does not want them to."

Laura gave Julian a concerned look.

He closed his eyes, again aware of just how badly the girls needed to start school of some sort. "No, I don't need duct tape. It's just a headache."

"Okay." Alice began humming.

"Sometimes I feel like my life can't get any weirder, you know?" Julian mumbled to Laura.

Ruth cleared her throat. "Yes, I see them. Six, born in larvae egg sacks that hung from the ceiling." She paused. "So romantic."

"…and then she says _that_." He looked at Ruth. "What the hell?"

Kiden raised an eyebrow. "Never a dull moment with you guys."

 _WOOSH!_

"I've got the first lot!" Megan said, fluttering her wings. Josh, Laurie, and the two combatants they had not encountered yet.

"Hey guys!" Josh grinned. "Nori caught up with us and said you found a way out of here?"

Kiden gave him a thumbs-up. "All signs point to yes."

"Yeah, but we need everyone together." Julian looked at Megan. "This isn't going to be an easy fight."

She nodded. " _Sihal Novarum Chinoth!_ " and disappeared again with a _POP!_

"Great, that's my favorite kind." Josh sighed. "I thought taking a break from X-force meant I didn't have to deal with shit like this anymore."

"Joke's on us." Julian said this flatly.

"What's X-force?" Laurie asked, her nose wrinkling.

"Um, nothing." Josh gestured to the two strangers behind him. "These two are Barry and Angel Bohusk. They said they used to attend Xavier's."

"Angel _Salvadore,_ thanks." The woman's nose wrinkled, and she folded her arms, which sported brightly patterned sleeves. She looked familiar somehow, with broad features, dark skin, and curly, afro-style hair. But Julian couldn't quite place her.

Her partner, Barry, was an average looking man, with sandy blond hair and square features, and was wearing a black suit with what looked like gliders under his arms. He was quite certain that he had never met him before. "Really? I don't remember you. Must have not run into you guys."

"We were there until M-day." Barry said this pleasantly. "I remember _you._ "

Julian shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure—"

Laura interrupted him. "His mutation was physical. He possessed avian features."

"Yes, I was called Beak by yourself and some of the other students." Barry's voice was still neutral. Maybe a little familiar.

"…" Julian stared at him, his forehead wrinkling. No way. He looked so _average_. And his voice wasn't squawky. "Wait, chicken kid?" He paused, looked at Angel. "And…fly girl?" Now Ruth's comment earlier made sense. He had heard about that disgusting thing. Back when he was about fifteen, around the time Quire had incited the riots at the school, Angel had gotten pregnant and laid a bunch of eggs out in Logan's cabin. These had hatched into six kids, all chicken-fly hybrids. It had become a running joke among the Hellions that she should be in charge of the sex ed class, because no one would want to do it after seeing them. He winced.

" _YES_ chicken kid and fly girl." Angel was glaring at him now. "You got a problem with that, huh? Wanna pick on him some more? Coz I'll tell you right now, I might not spit acid nowadays, but I will still fuck. You. Up." She leaned over and thumped her finger into his chest on the last words.

Julian closed his eyes. Great, more people he had pissed off somewhere along the way. But this was different. Unlike Quire, he _knew_ the chicken kid hadn't deserved the way he had treated him. Barry and Angel might have been weird, but they hadn't hung around, creepily trying to insert themselves into his conversations. He bit his lip and looked down, rubbing his neck. "Look, I'm sorry. I…I was kind of a jerk to you."

" _Kind_ of a jerk?" Angel's nostrils flared. "You hung my husband from the school weathervane because it 'needed a rooster!' You called our children _monsters!_ "

"Yeah, my douchmeter is _never_ that far off the mark." Kiden sounded smug.

Julian could feel Laura giving him a disapproving look as she folded her arms. Probably akin to the one she had given him over the whole Iara thing. Probably _worse_ , because now Alice was watching them intently, and he needed to be setting an example. Of some sort. "I'm sorry." He said this more firmly. "That definitely wasn't okay, and I wish I could take it back. But I can't." He frowned, looked at Barry. "I don't do things like that anymore, if that makes it any better."

"It's fine." Barry glanced at Angel, who was still glaring at Julian. "Really. Let it go."

"But he—" she started.

"Let it go. It's not worth it." Barry nodded to Alice. "Looks like they have a little one too. Maybe he understands now."

"Kind of." Julian felt a brief urge to make it clear that Alice had _not_ hatched from a gross larva egg, but he resisted. "She's Laura's—"

"Sister." Laura looked down at Alice. "Introduce yourself."

Alice's eyes widened. "Should I introduce Gabby and Betty, too?" She whispered this loudly.

"…" Julian's forehead wrinkled. "No…"

"Oh." Alice paused. "I am uncertain what the order is, then. I am normally second. Should I wait for Gabby to speak?"

"What?" Laura gave her a confused look too. "You are the only one here."

"But…" Alice frowned. "I would prefer to wait."

"This is Alice." Julian shook his head slightly. "She has two other sisters…it's a long story, but they're basically down in Arcade's underground lair right now, hiding till we can get them back."

Angel's expression of anger wavered.

Barry knelt down in front of Alice. "Oh no! That's so scary. You all must be very brave."

Alice hesitated. "I am. I hunt unicorns with an AK-47."

Julian traded a concerned look with Laura.

Kiden grinned.

Josh snorted. "Don't let Summers catch wind that you're raising a badass."

"I don't get it." Laurie gave him a confused look.

Angel was smiling now. "Damn, she's pretty cute. You better do right by her."

"Raising children is hard work, especially when you're a mutant." Barry stood up again. "And especially when you don't know what a normal life is like yourself. That was so very challenging for me."

Julian shrugged. "We'll figure it out. It can't be _that_ hard, after what we've been through already."

Angel raised an eyebrow. "Mhmmm. Talk to me in ten years when they're teenagers."

His forehead wrinkled as he remembered that he actually had _half_ that time, since the girls had an accelerated metabolism.

Laura saved him from having to answer. "Why is Megan not back with the others yet?"

"She is, excuse me, searching." Ruth paused. "They are no longer together. Scattered yes, like seeds. Blowing in the wind."

"Great." Julian paused, scanning for Megan himself. "Uh. She found most of them." He paused, trying to sort out Megan's jumbled, rapid communications. "But Arcade's giving them some trouble…he caused some kind of a land slide that divided the area, and then started a white-out blizzard. She's still looking for Cess and Santo…Nico said something about Quire and Kid Gladiator messing with them."

"Should we assist?" Laura asked, her forehead wrinkling.

Julian thought for a moment. "No, I think we need to make sure he doesn't hide the entry point or try to sneak out…I didn't see any other doors in there, but who knows." He glanced at the tunnel, then at her again. "But Ruth and I could try finding them in the meantime. Give them some bearing."

"Yes, thank you, that will help." Ruth paused. "We are so close we can taste the freedom."

"I think that might be my favorite thing I've ever heard you say, Ruth." Josh grinned again.

Laurie glanced at him. "When we're out of here, you better explain all this cryptic stuff. I don't like not knowing what's going on."

Julian looked away. Josh was definitely going to end up spilling the beans. Well, that was Summers's mess to clean up, wasn't it? He cleared his throat, turning to Ruth. "Ready?"

* * *

 _WOOSH!_

About ten minutes later, the small clearing had filled with most of the inhabitants of Murderworld. It was clear that they had been through an ordeal. Hepzibah's fur was dusted with snow, and James looked a little blueish, while Santo had actual icicles hanging from the parts of his face that were still craggy. Some features were still flattened and glittering from his fight with Molly earlier. Cessily's hair and clothes seemed frozen and plastered to her metal body. However, Megan, Nori, Nico, and Molly seemed to be just fine, with dry clothes and rosy complexions.

"I ran into these two first, and Nico conjured up a heating and shielding spell, so things were right cozy for us." Megan's wings fluttered as she smiled cheerfully, her arms around Nico's and Molly's shoulders.

Hepzibah's tail twitched. "Speak for yourself. That witch turned me into a _squirrel_ and I spent the last three hours obsessing over acorns. _Acorns._ So incredibly mundane. I never want to ingest or even _think_ about earth nuts again in my life."

Santo grinned. "Man, I dunno where to even start with that." He reached up and wiped a row of icicles out of his eyes. "Least you weren't tryin' to _find_ a squirrel in a _blizzard._ "

"Sp-p-peak for yourself." James gritted his teeth against the chattering. "You c-c-can't even feel the c-c-cold."

"If I lose my hair because of you, I'm going to be _so_ pissed." Cessily was glaring at Hepzibah.

"Here." Julian reached out and send a few waves of energy her way, melting the ice. He knew just how important her hair was to her, since it was the last part of her that was still human.

"Thanks." She looked around the group. "Guess we're ready then?"

Julian considered them. Quire, Kid Gladiator, and Hazmat were nowhere to be seen, but at this point he wasn't sure they would be necessary. They could search for them later. "As we'll ever be, I guess." He looked toward the tunnel. "It's narrow, but everyone should fit. Including _you_ , if you break down." He said the last part before Santo could interrupt him. "Once we hit the bottom, there'll be a room full of machines…" he described the layout of the complex in brief, spending the most time in detailing Arcade's room, where he suspected most of the fight would be taking place. Then he began to lay out a plan. "Nori, Laura, Molly, you three should focus on the panels. We need to wreck them. Santo, Cessily, James, Laurie and I will stay on Arcade, with Nico and Josh providing backup. Everyone else…you stay in the machine rooms. Destroy what you can and make sure Arcade doesn't leave. Be ready to back us up if we need." He paused. "And don't touch the smoke monster. Laura's sisters are in it…and I'm thinking they'll be safer if we let them out after all the fighting's over."

Laura nodded slightly. "You will shield her?" she asked, her hand tightening around Alice's.

He nodded. He'd thought about this and decided that since unlike her sisters she wasn't protected and concealed by the smoke monster, he didn't want to let her out of his sight, even if the fight was dangerous. He knew no one would protect her like himself, except for Laura.

He looked around the group again. "Guess that's it.

James sniffed. "Let's get this son-of-a-bitch."

They began to file down the tunnel, Julian organizing so that he went first, and Cessily last, in case it began to collapse. He knew from training that being buried alive didn't _sound_ that threatening to people with their powers, but the crushing forces could be deceptive. People like Laurie and James and Kiden and Laura—and especially Alice—if caught off guard and in awkward positions, would likely have trouble extracting themselves. And he was concerned that Arcade had boobytrapped the entrance in his absence. Despite the number of people travelling, this descent was much faster than the first, since he had already put in the work of widening the tunnel. He was finally at the entrance, peering down at the room with all the machinery again, letting his eyes adjust to the light. After a moment he swung down and dropped himself to the floor, Laura landing almost silently beside him. Which was amazing, considering how heavy her adamantium skeleton was.

She pointed in the direction of the hallway. He took that as a sign that Arcade was still present, and all was on track. After helping the others down from the ceiling entrance, he turned to reassemble Santo, but found his friend had already done so himself. They traded a brief grin, then began to head toward the passage, Julian pausing to make sure the laser emitters were still broken. Which they were. He wasn't sure if this was comforting or worrying.

"HEP!" James hissed.

Julian turned to see Hepzibah running her furry fingers over the knobs of one of the machines, almost lovingly.

"This is Uru!" Hepzibah whined back. "It's _god_ metal, James! _GOD METAL!_ You can't expect me to just walk past it! I would _die_ for a flake!"

"…" James gritted his teeth and grabbed her arm. "Focus!"

Cessily rubbed her face with her palms and gave Julian a pleading look, projecting thoughts of leaving her behind. He shook his head firmly and led them into the next room, which was identical to the first. Hepzibah did not attempt to touch anything this time, but she cast longing looks at the machines to either side of her, and her tail flicked at an almost constant rate.

"Next room's the smoke monster, then Arcade and the control panels." Julian didn't bother whispering, since Arcade had to know by now that they were on their way. Besides, they had the firepower to beat him now. "Anyone who's not in the boss room stays here. And remember…leave the monster for now."

They marched on ahead, past the swirling black globe on the platform and into the room with the multitude of screens. Arcade was still seated in front of these, tapping his fingers on his armrests. "Ah, good, you're finally here. Let's—"

"Now!" Julian snapped.

His first charge was repelled by a forcefield around Arcade, much like he'd expected. It didn't feel very strong though, his fists almost passing through it several times. He felt like he was working his way through an onion-type energy structure, which would eventually collapse if he worked at it hard enough.

The room was chaotic, full of shouting and power flashes and forcefields and brief retaliatory shots from whatever defense systems protected the control panels, yet he found himself thinking that this was easier than he expected. Not even as crazy as when they had attacked Bastion and Risman, and Warren had ripped up the room full of his clones. About a minute after he'd had this thought, his fist finally tore through Arcade's shield and struck him a glancing blow on his face.

Arcade glared at him. "You'll pay for that!" he shouted, raising an enormous pink hand in his direction. The Nimrod arm. For a moment his heart stopped. Had he been wrong? Alice was directly in its path. His shield wouldn't hold. Antimatter didn't stop till it negated matter. Julian flung himself down to cover her, taking the full blast on his own head and shoulders, but a moment later realized he was still breathing. The arm must be a decoy.

"Julian!" Laura had seen this and abandoned her position at the panels to run toward him, but she stopped a few feet away as she saw he was fine.

He got to his feet and pulled Arcade to him, easily, his eyes narrowed and glowing as he raised him into the air. "I'm going to choke you with your own intestines like the piece of shit you are."

"No." Laura's voice. Firm.

He looked at her, his lip curling. "He _has_ to die."

"You promised." She withdrew her claws with a _snakt._ " _We_ promised. No more killing."

"…" He glared at her, green flames starting to lick around him. "Laura. He _has_ to die. He hurt us…he hurt _you…_ he'll just come back and hurt us again."

" _No more killing._ " Laura pointed at Alice. "You told her we do not kill. Were you lying?"

Alice was watching with wide eyes, clearly ready to absorb whatever lesson he taught her. Whatever example he set.

A moment passed. Julian hesitated. Then the glow in his eyes faded. "Sure hope we don't end up regretting this." He couldn't help the bitter note to his voice. He wanted nothing more right now than to make good on his threat to Arcade.

"Probably." Laura paused, tilted her head. "Thank you." The corners of her lips were turning upward, and suddenly he knew that no matter what happened next, he had already made the right decision. He started to smile back at her.

"Are you JOKING?!" Nori shouted, leaping over a console, her gauntlets flying off as she intercepted Arcade as he ran toward the door. "DIE MOTHERFUCKER!"

 _KRAKOOM!_

The room shook, and a shockwave of wind ripped through it as she unloaded the second largest thunderbolt Julian had ever seen her generate, directly into Arcade's chest. Laura shielded Alice's and her faces with her arms, even though Julian had raised a shield over them all the moment he saw Nori's fists glowing.

When the light had finally faded, Arcade was still standing in place. There were scorch marks on the floor and walls around him. And his head was…gone.

Sparking wires stuck out of his smoking neck hole.

"…" Nori peered at her target in disbelief.

Julian twitched. "He was a decoy." Pause. "Oh my _god._ "

"What—what does this mean?" Cessily asked, her eyes wide. "Are we trapped here?"

"I do not believe so." Laura gestured to the sparking panels. "We have, or can easily, disable the forcefield surrounding Murderworld and have Megan teleport us home."

"But it means he's still out there." Julian's forehead wrinkled. "I never could read his mind. But it was different than the other decoys…when I read _them,_ there was just nothing there. It was like Arcade actually blocked me out. Which I think means he was real at one point."

"Yes." Ruth had entered, from the smoke monster's room. "Excuse me. We need to leave now."

"Shit." James, from the monitors. "He rigged this place."

"Huh?" Julian looked over at the screens and saw the timer counting down in the corners. One minute…they would never make it up the tunnel that fast. As he looked at Arcade's chair and the panel, he could see colorful wiring twined around various points. "Oh shit."

"Yes." Laura pointed at the doorway.

Megan was staring at them all with solid black eyes, holding her soul dagger in one hand, clearly ready to attack the next person to move.

 _Megan!_ Julian tried shouting at her mentally. _We need you to port us out of here!_

Her lip curled, and she began to move toward him, clearly not registering a word he'd said. He took a step backward, his eyebrows drawing together. Should he try reaching her by the astral plane? He would need to concentrate for that, and from what he could tell, he didn't have time. Had Arcade done this somehow?

Nico raised her staff. " _Purge_."

"HYURK—" Megan made a retching noise, then plunged the dagger into her chest. "Ahck, sorry, I touched this glowing thing…and I kind of went dark for a while." She paused. "Are we still wrecking things?"

"Must've been a cursed object." Nico's nose wrinkled. "Arcade knew she's our ticket out of here."

Nori grabbed Megan's shoulder. "He wired this place with explosives…port us, _now!"_

Laura shoved Alice at Cessily and was now running toward the door. Toward the smoke monster room. The girls.

Julian shot after her, reaching the plinth at about the same time. She was sliding her hands over the smooth surface, seeking buttons, mechanisms, anything that would let her wake the creature. Failing, she popped her claws with a _Snkkt!_ and began to swipe at the globe desperately.

 _Betty? Gabby?_ He called. _Can you wake it up?_

 _I don't think so._ Gabby paused. _Betty is sleeping and she keeps telling me five more minutes._

Julian closed his eyes, feeling a deep sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. _This is really important. I need you to wake her up. Now._

 _I will try._

They were almost out of time. They had to be. Julian tried punching the globe too, but his fists passed through it without effect, like Laura's claws.

"Get outta my way!" Megan was there, with blackened eyes, flaming dagger in hand again. She raised it overhead, then stabbed it into the center of the smoke globe. A loud roar rocked the room as it awoke. Or maybe that was the explosion beginning. Julian wasn't sure. All he was aware of was that he was putting every resource he had into making a shield. He and Laura might survive, but the girls, with only their mild healing factors…

* * *

He opened his eyelids very slowly. His head was pressed against something cold, and smooth, as he leaned against something. After a while he realized his lower half was in the water. Freezing water. There were pieces of ice around him, bobbing up and down. Miniature ice bergs. He flexed his fingers slowly, trying not to panic at how numb he felt. Like he was made of rubber. He had to find the others.

After a moment, the black spots swimming in his vision began to fade, and he began to scan the area around him. There! He saw Laura, sitting on a piece of ice, her head bowed, the girls clutched against her sides. She was shaking. He tried to pick himself up with his mind, but then gave up. What Laura had nagged him about so much seemed to have finally happened: he was completely out of telekinetic energy. Probably because his body was putting everything it had into trying to keep himself from succumbing to hypothermia. He gritted his teeth and threw himself back into the water, swimming toward her as fast as he was able. It was only five feet, but it felt like forever. He finally reached the edge of her ice chunk and hauled himself up. "O-k-k-kay?" He must have been in the water for a while now.

"Mmm." Laura turned her head, just slightly.

He finally determined the girls were alive, too. They were still and silent, eyes closed, but there were small puffs of fog emerging from their mouths.

"M-M-Megan?" he asked next. "S-s-seen her?"

She exhaled, a larger cloud of fog. "Mmm-mmm."

He closed his eyes. Did they really just survive Murderworld blowing up, to die in this passive way? Freezing to death? If he had the energy he would feel rage, but now he just felt exhausted. "H-h-how l-long?"

"On-n-n-e hour." Laura shuddered. Her teeth were chattering. "D-d-dragged you."

He realized she meant that they had been elsewhere, and that she had dragged his unconscious body through the water with her. She must have just been resting, exhausted from hauling him _and_ the girls. He felt terrible.

"W-w-why hasn't…help-p-p c-c-come?" He mumbled, frustrated. Clearly, they were no longer in Murderworld. Megan might not have made it, but where were the X-men?

 _VTT!_

Vanisher was now crouching on the piece of ice beside Laura. He looked just as Julian remembered him, dressed in his usual grey and black uniform, a tattoo that wrapped around his bald and shiny head in lieu of a mask. "Murderworld, eh? Sounds fun."

Julian glared up at him. "D-d-do it."

"D-d-do w-w-what?" Vanisher mocked.

Laura glared at him too, her lip curling slightly. "Rrrr."

Vanisher eyed her. "Bet you couldn't move a muscle right now even if you wanted to, creepy girl." Pause. "So how much you want to pay me this time? A million? Two? 'Coz after that little trick you pulled on me a while back, I sure as _hell_ ain't doing it for free."

Julian closed his eyes, summoning every bit of juice he had left to dig his psychic fingers into Vanisher's motor cortex.

 _VTT!_

* * *

 _VTT!_

 __"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Vanisher demanded, as they materialized in the middle of Frost's study, in the center of a circle of people. "HE VIOLATED ME!" he pointed his finger at Julian, who was sprawled on the floor, beside Laura and the two girls. "X-men! He's not allowed to do that, right?! RIGHT?"

"Actually, I quite approve." Frost's voice, somewhere above them.

"What?!" Vanisher sounded like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But you guys are all up on your high and might ethics horse about this sort of shit!"

"Normally, yes, but the fact that you were trying to extract _profit_ out of people _dying of hypothermia in the Antarctic_ would seem to destroy your argument." Frost cleared her throat. "There is a term for that. Can anyone be a pet and remind me?"

"Extortion." Logan's voice growled this. "I also don't think it shoulda taken you a fuckin' hour to find them when we gave you exact coordinates, Telford."

"Hey, _you_ had the numbers mixed up or something, cause they sure as hell were not where you said they would be. I had to port _everywhere_ to find them!" Vanisher sounded annoyed. "And I was _joking_ about the money _._ Holy fuck you guys need to lighten up! It's like—"

"You have ten seconds to port yourself outta here." Logan's voice dropped. "Or you itchin' for a repeat of last time you got on my nerves, hmm?"

 _VTT!_

Frost cleared her throat. "I couldn't help noticing his enormous spike of fear just now, something about being stabbed in a very sensitive area…" She paused. "Because he asked you to join his brothel? Did he _really?_ "

"Don't wanna talk about it. Less said, the better. Where's Elixir?" He sounded irritated. "I told that kid to wait till we called him in here. What the fuck?"

"I told him he could have a meal, seeing as he had not eaten in almost a week, and we anticipated needing his services." Frost sounded equally irritated. "Forgive me, Logan, but you do not seem to understand these are not soldiers." She paused. "I had already asked him to return. He will be here momentarily."

Logan grunted.

Julian opened his eyes very slightly. He still felt completely numb and exhausted, and everything was blurry. He was probably close to dying. But it was almost over. He heard the door to the study opening, and then Josh was there, pressing his fingers against his arm. _Paft!_

The room rushed into sharp focus, and he sat up, blinking. "Thanks."

"Yep." Josh was now working on healing the girls, then Laura. It was amazing to watch as the blue tinge to their skin faded, leaving only their natural peach tones.

"Is Alice alive?" Laura spoke first, over Gabby's head, as she embraced her tightly.

"She's with Sarah." Logan paused. "They're waitin' for you downstairs. Figured we'd give you a sec first."

"Did Megan make it?" Julian asked next. Laura was now embracing Betty.

"She's good. Teleported out right as it happened…she was really upset when she realized you weren't with her." Josh grinned. "So yeah, be ready for some screaming when she sees you made it."

"Impressively, there were no deaths." Frost folded her arms. "Even the three individuals you did not manage to recruit for your escape efforts were able to extract themselves in time."

"We were in Antarctica?" Laura guessed.

"Yes. Arcade seems to have taken over a research company that had permits to operate there." She wrinkled her nose. "I understand he is still at large?"

"Yeah." Julian's forehead wrinkled. "Nori tried to knock him out, but he turned out to be a decoy. We don't know if he was one from the start or if he replaced himself later."

"We may never know." Frost paused. "But we can go over the details later. You have people waiting for you."

Laura got to her feet and headed for the doors, Betty and Gabby scrambling after her, all with similar expressions of determination.

Julian started after them. He was slipping out the door when he heard a voice in his head.

 _After you have sorted yourselves out…may I have a word, before you leave?_ Frost paused. _Here in my office. You and Laura._

 _What about?_

 _Nothing bad, I promise._

 _Okay._ He entered the hallway, frowning slightly. What couldn't Frost say with Logan in the room?

* * *

When Julian entered the cafeteria, he found it full of pizza boxes. At a central table sat Santo, cramming slices into his mouth without bothering to chew, almost as if he were inhaling them. The only break he took was to chug from a large bottle of Pepsi like he was dying of thirst. Across from him sat Molly, also shoving pizza slices into her face, two at a time. He gazed at this spectacle for a moment, then saw that Laura and the girls were seated at a nearby table with Sarah, also stuffing pizza into their faces, and headed over.

"There if fome lef!" Betty said, waving her finger at one of the pizza boxes on their table. The digit came near Alice's face, and she almost bit it.

Julian sat down at the table and took a slice. Normally he would be disturbed by seeing such table manners from the girls, but he was just as hungry. Plus, after seeing Santo and Molly, he doubted any eating behavior could ever truly shock him again. He soon forgot what he had been thinking about as he ate. Nico's magical fruit had helped take the edge off his hunger from going without food for a week, but it wasn't nearly as satisfying as this.

Finally the face stuffing seemed to be at an end. Laura was talking to Sarah, and had been doing so for a while now, he realized. Oh, yeah. Asking her about California. Asking her to take the girls, so Laura could go to school. This was the errand they had been carrying out when Arcade kidnapped them. It felt like decades had passed since then. He leaned his head on his hand, watching her speak, the way her expression remained flat and devoid of emotion. Yet he knew that it was there. It was startling to think that a little over a week ago, he had thought she was incapable of feelings. He had been very, very wrong.

"…Laura, you don't need to keep convincing me." Sarah was touching her hands gently with hers. "I don't have a lot of happy memories in California, but of course I'll help you. Anything I can do to help you build your life."

"Thank you." Laura closed her eyes.

 _Slurrrp_ , followed by a tiny rattling noise.

Julian looked at Betty, as did Laura. The sounds seemed to have originated from her place.

Betty looked back at them. There was something guilty about her expression. And she was hunched over slightly.

"What…what are you doing?" Laura asked.

Gabby coughed.

Betty glared at her.

Julian gave them a stern look. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Betty did not say this convincingly.

Laura and Julian looked under the table, to see a small black cloud, sparking with occasional electricity. There was a sound like a rattlesnake shaking its tail, and then a faint hissing sound.

"Is that…" His eyebrows drew together. "Is that a piece of the smoke monster?"

"I _told_ her not to take it!" Gabby blurted. "She would not listen!"

"Smokey is my friend!" Betty sounded equally desperate. "I could not leave him!"

"Betty." Laura said this firmly. "It is very dangerous. You cannot keep it."

There was a tiny roaring noise. It sounded somewhere between a muffled trumpet and a miniature T-Rex.

He rubbed his face with his hands. "How did you even bring it with you?"

Betty frowned. "I put him in my pocket."

Julian gave Laura a flat look, recalling a brief argument they had had a while ago, when first buying clothes for the girls in Krasnokamensk after escaping the facility. He had insisted that they should get simple clothes that allowed them to see everything the girls were doing, but she had been determined to buy them practical outfits, with a multitude of pockets. She had been quite insistent on this point and he had relented, at the time too tired and too awed that he was even arguing with her at all to keep going.

Now, she avoided his eyes. "It will need to be destroyed."

"NO!" Betty grabbed the small cloud and hugged it proactively. "Smokey is my FRIEND! You will need to destroy _me_ first."

"Betty." Gabby said this in a severe tone. "Self-punishment, _level two._ "

"NO!" Betty turned away from them.

Alice pushed her chair away from the table and began running toward the door of the cafeteria.

"She's going for a tarp. God damn it." Julian reached out and pulled her back with his mind. "Alice. Seriously. Stop it. We're never going to ask you to do that."

"But there are such lovely tarps here!" Alice looked ready to cry.

He closed his eyes. "I give up. They win."

"No you do not." Laura sighed. "Alice, sit down. We will look at the tarps later. Betty, you will show…Smokey…to Frost and Dr. McCoy. If they determine it is dangerous, you will give it to them. Do you understand?"

Reluctant nods. Betty began to eat a slice of pizza, then gave Julian a defiant look as she fed the rest to the small smoke monster.

 _Slurrrp._

Julian watched as the pizza disappeared into the small cloud, which flashed briefly and then made a rattling noise, as if pleased. He shook his head and looked at Laura again. "Frost wants to see us before we go, in her office. I think we should do that now, then check that _thing_ out…and leave in the morning. We've got a bunch to do to get you enrolled, and I have to explain to like five or six people why I just dropped off the face of the earth for a week."

"Couldn't you use your telepathy?" Sarah asked.

He shrugged. "I guess. But I'll probably just say I was sick. I don't like manipulating people."

"I see." She raised her eyebrows. "That's probably smart. I didn't think of it that way." Pause. "I guess your powers come with complicated ethical questions."

"Yep." He was about to add that she was probably not too familiar with ethics, but Laura was watching him warily, probably expecting this response. He shrugged instead. "Ready?"

"Yes."

* * *

They were now seated in front of Frost, both watching her inquisitively. Both could sense a small amount of nervousness on her part, Laura via Frost's elevated vital signs, Julian via her slightly agitated mental state. Although he couldn't see into her mind, he could feel that whatever was happening inside was unusual. She was going to ask them something.

"This is difficult to say." Frost began.

Julian raised an eyebrow and folded his arms, while Laura leaned forward slightly, also confused.

Frost closed her eyes. "I have come to a point…where I find myself doubting someone very close to me." She hesitated. "I think you both know who I am speaking of."

Laura nodded. "Cyclops."

Frost flinched slightly.

Julian paused. He had never imagined this might involve their old headmaster. But that meant, his own activities, and Laura's, were in question. He felt wary. What they had done under Summers's guidance had been a foggy gray area at best in terms of who was responsible for what, but he wasn't willing to give up his new life, not when it was finally about to begin. "What do you want from us?"

"I am…concerned about my students." Frost paused. "I feel responsible for what has happened to many of you, right under my nose. There is a war coming, but he has enlisted you as soldiers against my wishes."

Julian relaxed slightly. She didn't seem to be threatening them. "It was our choice too."

"Yes, but I was your guardian." His parents had signed him over to Frost shortly after disowning him.

"So? Not like I'm going to sue you or anything." He shrugged. "We're starting fresh."

"That's precisely what I wish to speak with you about."

"I don't understand. Are you not going to help us anymore?" Julian was already starting to run through alternate ideas. Student loans. Jobs. With what skills? How much did everything cost, anyway? Laura's forehead was wrinkled too.

"The opposite." Frost clasped her fingers on the desk. "I would like to open a new branch of the school. At your university. And I would like for you two to be my representatives and take leadership when I am not there to supervise."

"Wait, what?" Julian held up his hand. "I don't—"

"I am not finished. Please, let me finish." Frost straightened. "Firstly, Logan and myself were impressed with your conduct over the past week. You escaped Arcade's plot with little assistance and no life lost. The closest anyone in your group came to death was yourself. Several of your peers now have approached me to say that you took charge…and that there was no loss of life was unusual. They have apparently become used to losses." She hesitated.  
"Especially to Mr. Summers overseeing these deaths from his desk. This saddened me…but also alerted me to the fact that some students may wish for an alternative, such as you did. And for the chance to further their educations, which, at this time, I cannot offer here." She paused. "This presents an opportunity. To establish a team in California, that would—"

Julian's eyebrows drew together. "I'm done with the X-men. I don't want to be doing this anymore."

Laura glanced at him, her mouth pressing into a line.

"Like it or not, both of you are mutants. You were born with an extra gene, and you have retained it, even after M-day." Frost's eyebrows drew together. "If you do not want it, I am sorry. I wish I could take it from you, but I cannot. As a result, you will be targeted for the rest of your life, regardless of whether you use your powers." She paused. "The only choice you have is whether you choose to fight back or allow yourself to succumb. But like me, you do not have the option of peacefully abstaining and living a normal life."

"That's the same argument Summers uses to hook and reel you in." Julian leaned back in his chair, his lip curling. "There's a war coming and you need to fight it. He doesn't tell you you're going to end up being cheap _cannon fodder_."

"It's a valid argument." Frost gave him a firm look. "But while he seeks to make soldiers, I seek to one day make something akin to Xavier's X-men. Trained mutants, who use their powers defensively, and who show those who will listen that we are not a threat. This brings me to my second point."

"You said it yourself. Xavier tried that, and it didn't work."

"That does not mean we should not try again. Now, please stop interrupting me." Frost clasped her hands on the table again. "I would like to open this center at the university, which will act as a mutant ethnic center, and double as your headquarters. You would lead a select team." Frost paused. "Which would directly counteract the team Logan is leading."

"What?" Julian stared at her. "Are you crazy? Not only do you want us putting our lives on the line…you want us _fighting X-force?_ "

Laura's forehead wrinkled.

"No." Frost frowned. "Logan has…expressed a willingness to inform me of the orders Mr. Summers is issuing. I would pass on this information to you, and ask you to accomplish the task first…via alternate means."

"Do you understand what X-force _is?_ " Julian leaned forward, his eyes narrowing and beginning to glow. "I'll tell you. Killers. Plain and simple. We killed until we weren't even sure what we were doing anymore. I killed so many people that _Laura_ asked me to stop. I don't even know how many."

Frost was looking down, her eyebrows drawn together. Laura was gazing at her hands too, her eyebrows drawn together.

But now that he was talking about it, he found he couldn't stop. He gritted his teeth. "You wonder why I don't use my powers at school? Because I killed so many people that I'm afraid I'll do it by _accident_. And when I get angry? I have to think about something else. Or same thing." He paused. His fists were starting to shake. "And that's just the nice clean deaths. I haven't even told you about the nightmare fuel. I've punched holes through chests, and blown up heads, and—"

"Stop." Frost raised her hand. Her eyes were closed. "I know. I know your life has been ruined. I am asking you to find it within yourself to help me make sure it does not happen to others." She hesitated, looked at them. "Mr. Summers…is a good man. But he is a fanatic. He believes that the goal he is working towards will fix what is broken in our world…and so he will do anything to accomplish that goal." She paused. "He has connections. Many connections. If he knew that I were trying to go around him—"

Laura leaned forward. "He would eliminate _you._ "

Frost nodded slowly.

Julian glanced at her, then at Frost again. Closer. He saw that she was struggling to maintain her composure. She was asking for help. For the first time during this conversation, he felt himself wavering. Uncertain. "What about the other X-men? I'm sure you could trust them, right? Like Hank—er, Dr. McCoy—Rogue, Nightcrawler…"

"They do not have your…experience." Frost paused. "My main wish is to establish this center to offer alternatives to those who want it. But the other purpose is to have a team installed that is able to accomplish tasks before X-force is able, in a way that eliminates the need for bloodshed. You, and Laura, and some of the others who have expressed interest…are intimately familiar with how Mr. Summers's team operates. None of the other X-men could accomplish this."

Julian's forehead wrinkled again. He looked at Laura. "Uh. I don't know what to—"

"Yes." Laura said this firmly.

He looked down. "But…we said we were _done_ with this. We wanted a life."

"I am done with killing. With not having a choice." She paused. "This is neither. This is…the opposite. I will fight for others to have a choice. Others, like my sisters."

Julian closed his eyes. "That's unfair. You can't drag them into this."

She was silent.

His lip curled. "Fine. _Fine._ I'll do it. I don't want to…but since when does what I want matter?"

"Thank you." Frost paused. "I know that is not sufficient, but I cannot fully express my gratitude." She raised an eyebrow. "Now…there was something _you_ wanted to ask me?"

Julian was silent for a moment.

"Betty has brought a piece of Murderworld with us." Laura paused. "She claims it is her friend. We need to analyze if it is a threat."

Frost's eyebrows drew together again. "I see." Another pause. "Yes, Dr. McCoy will need to have a look, and perhaps Megan. If I am not mistaken, this being has magical origins."

"Great." Julian said this flatly. "Well, let's get whoever needs to look at it to hurry up, so I can get home and start risking my neck again."

"I will meet you in Dr. McCoy's laboratory in several minutes. Please bring Betty and 'Smokey.'" Frost's skin was acquiring a shiny appearance as she began to shift to diamond.

They got up from their chairs and exited her office, Laura glancing back as they went.

* * *

"Well, what have we here?" Dr. McCoy was addressing Betty, his features set in an expression of mock seriousness. "That is quite a handsome storm cloud."

The miniature smoke monster made the pleased rattling sound, followed by a tiny roar.

"He is made of smoke." Betty eyed him uncertainly. She was standing beside the smoke monster, hands clasped behind her ramrod straight back. "Not ambient weather."

"I see." Dr. McCoy walked around the cloud. "Definitely magical in origin. Is it sentient? Does it speak to you?"

The smoke monster let out another tiny roar.

"Yes." Betty nodded seriously.

"Does it require food?"

"Yes." Betty paused. "It likes pizza."

Another pleased rattling sound.

"The one it came off of likes _people._ " Julian folded his arms. "And it was like a hundred times bigger."

"Smokey likes _pizza!_ " Betty shouted this at him. "He does not like people! He says Arcade bound him to the island and made him chase you around, but he hated it!" She seemed close to tears.

The smoke monster made a deep gurgling sound, akin to a growl.

"Are we sure Smokey isn't like Santo's long-lost brother or something?" Cessily asked, her nose wrinkled.

Laura raised an eyebrow. "I doubt they are related."

"It was a joke." Julian gave her a tired look. "But I don't get those anymore either, so never mind."

"You two are such Debbie Downers for a pair that just escaped Murderworld." Cessily paused. "Something you're not telling me?"

"Forget it." Julian paused. "What's your take on this?"

Megan and Nico Minoru were staring at the smoke monster.

"Clearly, it's a fragment of the thing I shattered with my soul dagger." Megan paused. "And it's a _really_ bloody powerful being." Another pause. "Not exactly a demon…there's darkness, yes, but it's not pulling me in. It's not a void."

"Seriously." Nico pursed her lips. "Kind of a yin-yang thing, actually."

"And it's old as sin." Megan raised a finger. "Maybe…ten thousand years?"

"Oh, more, easily." Nico shrugged. "I can't tell if it's a god or a god-thing."

"A…what? A _god?"_ Julian looked at the small smoke monster. "That? That could be a _god?"_

" _Or_ a god-thing." Nico frowned. "A device of the gods, used to enact decisions. Extract retribution. Screw around with people. A defense mechanism. Who knows?"

Julian's nose wrinkled. "My second question is…gods are _real?_ "

Both Megan and Nico nodded.

"Uh, which ones?" Cessily asked.

"We'd be here all night." Nico shrugged. "No telling who made this little guy."

"Like I said, it was way bigger in Murderworld." Julian glared at the smoke monster. "And it tried to eat my friends. I say we get rid of it here and now, before it becomes a prob—"

The smoke monster cut him off with a minute roar. There was a sound like a chain being wound up, and then a tiny _arrrooooooo_ sounded in the distance.

Dr. McCoy looked around in confusion. "How is it doing that?"

"He said to stop calling him an 'it.'" Betty paused. "It is rude, remember?"

Julian glanced at Laura. "I'm _really_ not comfortable with your clone having a pet god. This is kind of where I draw the line. I think."

"Hang on. It might be good, if a god or god-thing picked her as a friend." Nico held up a finger. "She'll be protected. And it's good luck, as long as he isn't trying to trick her. I don't think he is. He'd have hidden himself. Think of him as a…magical dog."  
The smoke monster roared again, the cloud flashing. It clearly didn't like being referred to as a dog.

Laura made a small shrugging gesture. She had clearly been sold on the word "protected," which just irritated Julian further.

"Oh, _fine._ " His lip curled. "Do whatever. I don't care anymore. It's not like I get to make decisions about my life anyway." He looked at Betty. "But _you_ are responsible for feeding it, and cleaning up _any_ messes it makes…and…I dunno, if it needs walks, or like there's god poop to deal with, that's on _you._ I for one am not lifting a finger for anything related to your smoke-whatever."

Betty surprised him by throwing herself against his leg and hugging it fiercely. "Thank you! _Thank you!_ You will not regret it!"

Smokey made a pleased rattling sound.

He sighed and patted her head briefly. "I better not."

"Well, it's been a blast." Nico extended her hand to Laura and then him, shaking them both briefly. "Me and Molly are out. I think you'll be hearing from us though, she and Santo are kind of buddies now." She rolled her eyes. "They said beating each other up something something best friends for life."

"They were having a pretty intense pizza eating contest in the cafeteria earlier." Cessily shrugged. "I left when Santo hit three pies. I felt like I was going to barf watching him, and I don't even have a stomach anymore."

"That's what that was?" Julian frowned. "I just thought that's how he eats now."

"Hah! Pretty close." Cessily arched her eyebrows. "And he wonders why I have like, negative interest in him."

Laura glanced at her.

"Well, I'm going to bed." Julian paused. "Take care, Nico…hit us up if you're ever in California. Santo should know where we are."

"Will do." Nico glanced at Betty. "Bye. Take care of your god-thing, and he'll take care of you."

Betty nodded.

As they headed out of Dr. McCoy's lab, they ran into Barry and Angel, who seemed to have been on their way in.

"Oh good! We were hoping to get a chance to say goodbye!" Barry smiled at Betty. "And which one is this?"

"Betty." Laura said this, clearly not trusting her to introduce herself after Alice's failed attempt.

"This is Smokey." Betty pointed at her smoke monster. "He says hello, and that he likes your outfits."

"Aww, he's kind of cute!" Angel paused. "Never seen anything like him. Tito keeps asking me for a kitty cat, but I'm allergic."

"We were just heading off to bed." Julian couldn't help the impatience in his voice. He was tired, and still irritated about the discussion with Frost.

"I understand." Barry nodded. "Long day."

"Totally." Angel paused. "Hey, you know…didn't you used to be friends with Sofia Mantega?"

"Uh." Julian raised an eyebrow. He hadn't thought about her since the brief concern that they might encounter her in Murderworld and be attacked. "Yeah, a long time ago. Why?"

"She's our teammate." Angel paused. "She talks about you sometime. Want us to pass on a message or anything?"

Julian's forehead wrinkled. He considered it for a moment. "Just say hi." Pause. "And I hope she's good, I guess."

"Will do." Barry patted him on the shoulder. "Good luck. I wish you well in your future endeavors."

"You too." Julian saw that Laura was watching him closely. "What?" he asked, after they had reached the stairs.

She didn't answer, but the corners of her lips turned upward.

* * *

"What happened to us _talking_ about big life decisions, huh?" Julian asked, staring up at the ceiling, sometime later.

Laura was lying on her side, resting her head on his chest. "There was no need."

"Yes there was." He glanced down at her. "We should have taken a couple days to think it over. Discuss all the angles. Weigh it."

"Our answer would have been the same, and the time would have been wasted."

"That's not for you to decide alone, Laura."

"You are displeased with me."

"Of course I am."

"When faced with our next decision, I will allow you to waste as much time as you would like." She paused. "How much time should we waste on decisions?"

Julian gave her a flat look. "Yeah, great time to start joking. Real funny."

"I am agreeing with you."

"You're agreeing with me in a sarcastic way. It makes me sound stupid."

"That is not my fault."

Julian glared at her. "Don't try and pretend you don't know what you're doing here. You're _fully_ aware."

"I am not certain what you want from me." She shrugged. "What would you like me to say instead?"

"Grrr!" He sat up and shoved her away. "Get out of my room!"

Laura hesitated. She made a motion as if to go, then paused and gave him a challenging look. "I would like to discuss this decision first. How long may I delay it?"

"…" Julian rolled over onto his stomach. "I was happy before you came back and upended my whole life again. I _had_ a life _to_ upend."

"I am sorry." She paused. "Do you regret that decision?"

He was silent for a moment. "No."

"Okay." She pressed her face against his shoulder. "Agreeing with Frost was the correct decision. You know this."

"I do?"

"Yes." She paused. "Like when you chose not to kill Arcade."

Julian closed his eyes. He sighed. "I don't want us to have decisions like this. I want to have a real life, for once."

"A life is not real without these decisions."

He looked back at her. "Where is this coming from? How do you know all this shit all of a sudden?"

"I am learning." Laura paused. "Sometimes from myself, and sometimes from watching you."

His lip curled slightly. "That's not fair. I don't learn anything from watching _you._ "

She raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever. Goodnight." He buried his face in his pillow.

"Goodnight." Laura said this into his shoulder.

At some point later he turned around and slid his arm around her waist.


	42. Chapter 42 - Not Anymore

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Thanks for the reviews, so glad everyone's been enjoying the story so far! Tons planned still. Let's get started! Note: This chapter is titled after a line from the story, but also is the title of a Nine Inch Nails song.

* * *

 **PART II**

* * *

CHAPTER 42

 _Not Anymore_

* * *

Julian flipped off the last switch, feeling the slight vibration of the X-jet's engine die. He leaned back in the pilot's seat, closed his eyes, and forced himself to take a breath. He still wasn't comfortable being in control without Logan there. If something went wrong, he wasn't sure he could keep the jet in the air with his mind. He'd never lifted anything that heavy before.

"Your piloting skills have improved."

He turned his head slightly and looked at Laura, who was watching him. Something about her expression made him think she might be unimpressed, and that the compliment was actually criticism. Maybe it was her monotonous voice. "Are you mocking me?"

She raised an eyebrow. "No."

He found it odd that he could still barely read her reactions, even though a month had passed. Most of the time he guessed was she was thinking, and most of the time he guessed wrong. But he wasn't complaining.

He turned around to look at the others, who were still buckled in. James. Josh. Santo. Cessily. And Hepzibah, because James had insisted. The latter was sitting with her arms folded, looking as bored as usual. He wondered how much James had told her about X-Force.

The team, including himself and Laura, were dressed in various outfits from their past, having agreed—at their first secret meeting in the Frost Mutant Ethnic Center—that since their mission statement was to "show those who will listen that we are not a threat," they had best avoid a uniform look, which might be perceived as intimidating. Santo had mumbled under his breath—with a shudder—that looking like a "goddamn troop of clowns" was no less intimidating, but the motion had carried. When preparing for tonight, Julian had opened his closet and leaned in, looking for his usual grey-and-black. He'd saw his old Hellions outfit hanging in the back and paused. He could still remember how proud he felt when Frost had handed it to him, with that slight smile, telling him that she expected great things of him. He had told her, very proudly, that he wouldn't let her down. For a moment, he imagined how excited he would've been to know that one day he _would_ lead a team. He started to smile. Then his eyes drifted over to the grey-and-black, hanging like a discarded skin, and the expression faded as he noticed a faint red stain across the side. He remembered Frost's long-ago warning to him, one summer in her office. About not using his powers for the wrong reasons. She was afraid he would become a bad guy.

 _I'll tell you._ His own voice, shaking, years later. _Killers. Plain and simple. We killed until we weren't even sure what we were doing anymore. I killed so many people that_ Laura _asked me to stop. I don't even know how many. You wonder why I don't use my powers at school? Because I killed so many people that I'm afraid I'll do it by accident. And when I get angry? I have to think about something else. Or same thing. And that's just the nice clean deaths. I haven't even told you about the nightmare fuel. I've punched holes through chests, and blown up heads, and—_

 _Stop. I know. I know your life has been ruined._ Frost had looked so disappointed.

 _Crunch._ He looked to the side and saw that his metal fingers had sunk through the doorframe. Which was smoldering. He blinked and let it go, then ran his hand over the damage, thinking about repairing the wood. A moment later, it looked like nothing had happened.

But he knew better. Something _had_ happened, just like it had happened to him, and he could never wear that Hellions outfit again. Not anymore. That part of him was dead, along with a bunch of other things. Besides, it probably didn't fit. He was pretty sure he had grown a last inch or two in height since he last wore it.

His eyes fell on his New X-men outfit next. It was a simple red-and-black suit with short sleeves and a zipper down the middle. The wrist-length gloves hung from a small book, and the boots were on the small shoe rack he was sharing with Laura. He had worn this one after M-day, when the gradual destruction of his life began. It was the one he had worn when the buses were blown up, and he watched people die for the first time in his life. People who were his close friends, his peers. Hell, he could have been one of them, if his fate had been different and his powers had evaporated when Wanda Maximoff whispered, "No more mutants."

But he had kept his powers, and lived, and this what he had worn when he fought the Purifiers, and Nimrod, and the facility for the first time. It was also what he was wearing when he had gotten to know Laura. Out of all his suits, this was the one he'd done the most good things in. He shrugged to himself, then slipped it off the hanger, turned around, and found that said Laura was waiting for him, with folded arms.

She had raised her eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. "I have been ready for _ten minutes._ "

He had rolled his eyes but hurried to pull his outfit on, thinking that, as much as Laura could annoy him sometimes with how quickly she got ready, he still had something to learn from her. She had chosen the same thing she had worn on the New X-men team too, but he doubted it was for sentimental reasons. Her suit was simple, all black, a tank top, pants, boots. A belt—some sort of chain—and a choker. He supposed it was easy to be quick when she only owned three outfits. She _really_ needed to go shopping.

Then again, he wasn't complaining. She looked amazing in every one of them. If they weren't in a hurry to beat X-force to the target, he would've made them take a while longer.

Julian realized he had just been staring out of the small window of the X-jet at the rooftop they had just landed it on. He shook his head slightly and looked around the seat again, only to see everyone was still in the jet. "Uh, guys? We're here."

"Open the door." Laura.

"…" Julian closed his eyes. He could already feel that this was going to be a long night.

* * *

A few minutes later, they were standing outside of the delipidated warehouse, gazing up at the structure as it loomed above them ominously. Julian's forehead wrinkled as he turned to face the group, feeling his mouth go dry. It had been easy to criticize some of Logan's shoddier leadership decisions from the sidelines, but now that he was responsible for those decisions…some of which might get one of the people watching him killed…and when he was kind of going up _against_ Logan…

"Aw, relax man." James reached out and patted his shoulder. "Sure it'll go great."

"Isn't reassuring him _Laura's_ job?" Josh asked, grinning.

Laura gave him a puzzled look. "Why?"

"Never mind." Julian shook his head slightly. "Okay, guys, look. X-force is _dangerous._ They catch us, they won't pull their punches. They'll kill us. Our job is to sneak in, grab the targets, _alive,_ and sneak out. No confrontations. Be quiet. And quick." He paused. "We want to catch everyone, but Lucas Alexander is top priority. He's on the second floor, with his group, holding a small anti-mutant rally. He has long hair and a beard, about 5'9, and stalky."

"Lift us through that window." Laura said this in a commanding tone as she pointed upward. "I can hear them. They are on the top floor."

Julian raised an eyebrow, slightly miffed. "I was _going_ to."

Laura gave him a dismissive look. "You are wasting time."

"…" He folded his arms.

"You said that we needed to do this quickly."

Julian closed his eyes, knowing that arguing with her was pointless. "Everyone ready?"

Nods all around. He took a deep breath, then raised his hand, feeling the ground drop away from his feet, the familiar tug on his spine as he lifted himself and the others up into the air. For a moment he remembered that first moment he had realized he could fly. Jean Grey-Summers had mentioned it in an offhanded way during a class, and he had thought of nothing else for a week straight, trying to figure out why he couldn't get himself to rise more than an inch off the ground. When he finally admitted he needed help, Grey-Summers had pointed out that since telekinesis was mind over matter, the only thing that could stop his mind _was_ his mind, and that his problems had been that he was subconsciously afraid of being successful. Once he had realized it, and admitted it, he had finally been able to lift off the ground for real. That had been among the best moment in his life. He opened his eyes and glanced down at the ground, about fifty feet beneath his feet, thinking of how _simple_ life used to be.

"They are praying." Laura murmured this, her eyebrows drawn together. "We should strike now."

"And you say _my_ fiancé is the mean one," James mumbled to Cessily.

Cessily rolled her eyes. "They're monsters. They don't deserve to have their prayers answered."

Julian formed a bubble around the group, then focused on crashing through the window without letting the glass cut them. It was relatively simple now, but there had been a time when this skill too had taken a great deal of his concentration to achieve. There was a loud tinkling noise all around them, shards of glass floating, caught in his residual telekinetic field. And then the landing, on the dirty wooden floor. He had dropped himself on the ground too roughly about a hundred times. The very first time he had touched down, he had slammed his feet into the pavement and his shins had ached for days afterward. Then the very last skill he had learned, the one he would use next: fighting. The skill Logan had taught him, over the course of a week in the danger room. Skills that he would use again and again and again, perhaps even more than his telekinesis. He rose to his feet, suddenly aware of the minds around him as he let go of everyone. Twenty-six minds. But he wasn't looking for everyone. Just one. He looked across the room and saw that Alexander was staring at him, and his eyes narrowed. If he were still on X-force, there was another skill he'd be using right now. But he wasn't. And he couldn't. Instead, he reached out and flung his target backward, crushing him against the brick wall with his mind. "Got him."

No one answered, because everyone was busy fighting. Laura was punching a man in the face, blood flying from his nose from the force of her adamantium knuckles, but her claws weren't out. James was tackling another person, and Hepzibah was running up the wall to avoid a spray of bullets. Their combatants were armed. Julian's lip curled, and he tightened his mental hold on Alexander, who groaned.

* * *

Ten minutes later, they were filing back into the jet, kicking their captives ahead of them. Their first mission had been a close call. The rally had been well armed and better trained than they had been expecting, and they had put up quite a fight. Hepzibah got shot at one point. Ultimately, Logan's team had arrived just moments after Julian had grabbed the last rally member and slipped out the window after Laura, his heart pounding. He knew Logan could hear him from here, but also that he wouldn't say anything. As long as they stayed out of normal hearing range, they were good. But if Logan's team saw them, they would probably be forced to fight to maintain their cover. Which he definitely didn't want. Sure, he had mastered Weapon X in the danger room, but the moment Logan did something that wasn't part of that program, he'd be screwed. He would probably just lose by default.

Hepzibah grabbed Josh's arm as he made to pass her. "Heal this wound!"

Josh grinned. "You're missing the magic word."

Her eyes narrowed. "Heal this wound _now!_ "

Cessily made a scoffing noise and looked at James.

He cleared his throat. "Hep, you should really say please."

"Why?" Hepzibah demanded. "I have had an inferior earth metal implanted in my arm. I shouldn't even have to _ask_. It boggles my mind to think that you would allow me to be tainted with your disgusting planetary substances!"

Josh grinned. "It boggles my mind too."

Santo snickered.

Cessily covered her face with her palm. "Shut _up_ guys."

"Josh, heal her. We need to get out of here." Julian paused, doing a quick count of the seating in the jet. "Uh, where do we _put_ them?"

The captives glared at him over their makeshift gags.

"Strap 'em to the roof?" Santo suggested.

"Like we're going kayaking?" James grinned.

Josh held up a finger. "Or like a bunch of Christmas trees."

"…" Julian cleared his throat. "No, they're _people._ We're not doing that."

"People who blew up a mutant homeless shelter." Cessily said this quietly.

Julian paused, his forehead wrinkling. He glanced at the leader of the rally. Lucas Alexander. The man who had blown up a shelter for mutants, and had ended twenty-nine lives, among them human shelter workers. His fists tightened slightly. It would be so easy to just put this monster down. Dump him outside the jet. Like the piece of garbage he was.

Before, he wouldn't have even questioned it. He would have reached out with his mind and created a small wedge of space in the tissue that constituted the man's brain. It was still only a thought away. Hell, he could get rid of the entire rally without breaking a sweat. He was supposed to give him to the authorities. He'd probably escape. Or find ways to issue his orders from jail. Assuming he was even given jail time. That all depended on who the judge was. The man was watching him quietly, his eyes narrowing slightly, as if he were laughing at him. Taunting him to do it.

"Julian?"

He started. "Huh?"

"I said that there is probably room in the cargo hold." Laura was speaking to him, watching him with folded arms. "We can put them in there."

"Oh." He paused. "I keep forgetting we have one." He shook his head slightly. No, he was done with killing. Besides, Alexander had info they needed. Info that would help them get the jump on X-force…and possibly lead them to William Stryker.

"Yes." Laura moved to Alexander and hooked her fingers into his handcuffs, then pulled him toward the cargo door, her shoulders stiff.

* * *

Back at the Center, they managed to land the jet in the secret concealed hangar under the fountain, Julian briefly shielding their presence with his mind so no university students would witness the landing and blow their cover. Frost had insisted that the Center be on campus, both to avoid suspicion from Summers, and so that it would be "convenient" for all involved. He had rolled his eyes. Literally not one part of all this was convenient for him. But he had remained silent.

James had taken charge of unloading the captives into the temporary holding cell in the hangar, where they would remain until Frost gave them instructions on what questions to ask, and where to deliver them. Hopefully soon. The sooner the better.

His eyes shifted to Laura, who was standing with folded arms, surveying the cell. Her eyebrows were drawn together ever-so-slightly, but he couldn't really tell what she was thinking, as usual. His gaze slipped lower, admiring all the skin her outfit showed. And the way the oval pendant of her choker rested just above her cleavage. She looked as appealing as she had when he first saw her. More, since he had seen what she looked like with nothing on. Which he realized he could be doing right now, instead of standing here and babysitting a bunch of scum. He cleared his throat. "Ready?"

Laura glanced at him, raised her eyebrow slightly, but the corners of her lips also turning upward. She could probably sense his vital signs jumping as he reacted to her. She nodded.

"Hey Mr. Leader, aren't you supposed to debrief us or something?" Cessily called, as they headed for the elevator to leave the secret level of the Center.

Julian paused. "Oh." He glanced at Laura, his forehead wrinkling. "Uh. Just a minute, okay?"

"Okay."

He headed back into the room, trying to scrape his braincells together enough to recap what happened, and give feedback on what they did well, and what they could improve for next time. He'd done this many times before during squad practice, but he was kind of distracted right now. After a moment of standing there, looking at the team, he shrugged. "So, that went better than expected, huh?"

"Yeah, no one died." James grinned. "Pretty encouraging."

"Oh, shut up." Cessily rolled her eyes. "It went well because we were organized. We have _one person_ to thank for that."

"Aw, jeez, don't get his head all blown up." Josh folded his arms. "He's just in charge 'cause no one else is _dumb_ enough to take the blame if this all goes south. Like it will."

"Hey! Jules isn't dumb!" Santo's craggy eyebrow shelf depressed as he scowled. "You take it back, Foley."

"Relax, it was a _joke._ " Josh paused, gave Santo a challenging look. "Although I'd like to see you make me."

Julian gazed at the pair. He'd worked with both at different times in his life, but never both, since Josh hadn't really spent much time with the others on the New X-men team. And they seemed to be on different pages. Santo didn't know all the things he and Josh had been through together, and Josh was always ready to throw up a challenge if he wasn't being shit on by the rest of the team, after years of having been bossed around by everyone on X-force. Plus, there was all the old school rivalries, too. He shook his head slightly.

"Oh, I'll make you." Santo made a fist. "See this? I can flatten a _car_ with it. Bet you can't heal your way outta that one so easy, golden boy."

"Guess we'll see who's laughing when I turn on the death touch, huh?"

"The fuck is happening right now?" James, sounding annoyed.

If there was one thing Logan didn't stand for on X-force, it was useless fighting. No one had dared to do more than crack jokes. And abuse Vanisher, but that was different. Julian cleared his throat, figuring he should follow his example. "Both of you, stop being idiots. Shut up and listen. That went well, but it could've gone a hell of a lot worse. We were almost too slow. Next time we need to…"

* * *

An hour later, and Julian was finally flying home to the apartment he and Laura had shared for the past month, clutching her tightly against him, with one metal hand against the small of her back and the other under her knees. And his mind around her body since she weighed four hundred pounds with all the adamantium in her skeleton. The trip was short, only ten minutes, but it still felt like forever. Finally, he landed on the walkway, near the stairs, and headed toward their apartment.

"Put me down." Laura said this impatiently.

He shook his head, grinning slightly as he reached out and undid the locks with his mind, then pushed the door open and carried her inside.

"I can walk."

"Good for you." He slammed the door closed with his foot and carried her into their bedroom. Almost everything was the same as before, when he'd lived here alone, except for her two other outfits in the closet, a couple shirts in the wash, and a few of her toiletries in the bathroom. He'd already had a queen-sized bed, so even that was the same. He tossed her down on it.

Laura sat up and raised an eyebrow at him, hair falling over her other eye. "We should be studying."

He raised an eyebrow back at her. "Fine. Let's study then."

Pause. Her eyes trailed down his figure. He suspected she liked the way he looked in his suit as much as he liked the way she looked in hers. Then she looked back up at him. "I would like to practice reproduction with you."

He grinned. "Read my mind."

She reached up and caught the tab on his zipper, then pulled it downward, the corners of her lips turning upward.

* * *

Sometime later, he was lying on his back and trying to catch his breath. He had recovered from their activities, but then Laura had started to fall asleep on his arm and almost cut off the blood supply as she relaxed the full weight of her skeleton on the crook of his elbow, and it had hurt. When he had hissed at her to move, she had murmured something and snuggled closer to him, which was adorable but also made the pain worse. It had taken shaking her violently to get her to wake enough that he could get comfortable. Not that he really had to worry about losing any extremities, though. He glanced at his metal hand. The room was dark, but the lights from outside were reflecting off the surface of his fingers. They were still as mysterious to him as they had been on that first night in the snow, even though he had learned a lot about them since. He knew they were technorganic, or T/O, as many parts of him were inside, which made him important to Apocalypse. Something about him being ready to be his horseman of Death. And his T/O virus was "celestial" in origin, which he didn't really understand but knew it made him important to the Collector, who wanted to take his hands and put them in his collection. He knew they were powerful, able to punch through things like a hot knife through butter. But to him, they were just his hands. They didn't feel any different. He could still feel with them, and they were warm, and Laura didn't seem to mind them. Actually, he suspected she liked them, since she often grabbed them and placed them on various parts of her body.

His gaze shifted over to her, as she slept, now only her neck resting on his arm. It had only been three months since her escape from the facility, and only a month since Murderworld, but she was growing very quickly into her new life. They sometimes had minor hiccups, in which she didn't think to communicate with him, but she seemed to have embraced her promise to him wholeheartedly. She was still almost impossible to read, but she spoke more, sometimes even asking him questions. Especially when they were hanging out at the bar.

The first time she had done this had really shocked him.

"Inform me about your childhood." She said this abruptly, so much so that he had almost choked on his drink.

"Uh-what?" His forehead wrinkled. "Why?"

"I am attempting to make conversation and learn things about you." She frowned. "Is this incorrect?"

Julian had found himself thinking that Hepzibah, an actual alien, did a better job at blending in. He had almost told her this, his lip curling, but then he reminded himself that said Hepzibah probably hadn't grown up with monsters. "No, but you need to be more specific…and, uh, usually you shouldn't just ask things out of the blue like that."

"Out of the blue?"

"It's a saying. Just…like, what made you think about it?"

Laura arched her eyebrows. "Childhood is a formative period of life. I have found myself…thinking what… _who…_ the girls…will become." She had announced, a week ago, that she would like to use a different word to refer to her clones, and ever since had been making the effort to do so.

"I'm not a great example." Julian paused. "You know who I was."

"Why would I have asked if I knew?"

He closed his eyes, thinking of when he had watched himself playing frisbee and mouthing off, when he had time travelled with the device he'd been given for an X-force mission. "I was full of myself. Over confident. Smug. _Mean._ " He paused. "Still am. But I'm working on it."

"Perhaps." Laura touched his fingertips, on the bar counter. "You were also enthusiastic." Pause. "And you cared for your friends. More than many people I have seen."

He looked at her again, his forehead wrinkling slightly. He hadn't expected her to say anything. If anything, he figured she would agree. Maybe she was learning. After a moment, he shrugged. "I…uh…was born in L.A. We were kind of poor. When I was eleven, my parents suddenly hit it big…like billionaires…and we moved to the rich part of town." He paused, his eyebrows drawing together. "I found out later they cut a deal with this guy called Kingmaker to get successful. He was basically a super villain."

"What kind of deal?" Laura asked, her eyes half lidded. He couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"Favors." He frowned. "I have no idea what they did for him…but…uh, me and the rest of the Hellions tried making deals too. We all got a wish granted, and in exchange we had to do a favor when he asked us."

"What did you wish for?" she asked next.

"Almost everyone else asked for something important." He stared at his glass. "Cessily wished her parents would accept her…Sooraya wished for her mother…Brian wanted to help me…"

"Santo said he wished to be a professional wrestler." Laura said this as if she had been there.

He raised his eyebrows. "They told you about the wishes?"

"Yes, but not yours."

"It was dumb. I wanted to be a hero. Like Captain America…or Ironman…or Wolverine." His lip curled. "Now look at me. I'm practically a monster." As he said this, he knew it was true.

Laura had said nothing. But she didn't need to. He didn't need to tell her about monsters.

He had reached out and touched her fingers. "That answer your questions?"

"Yes."

Laura had not asked him anything else that night, but she had only grown more talkative and curious over the past several weeks, asking him the most random questions at the most random moments, in the form of commanding statements, as if she was becoming one of the girls. He had finally figured out it was related to the courses she had enrolled in, English and Communications and an Anthropology class, all first year and probably full of group discussion stuff. He wasn't complaining. Since he had no way to read her, either telepathically or in a body language sense, the only way he knew what was going on in her mind was when she told him. But it was still something to adjust to.

That first question, though, reminded him that he had not contacted his parents in years. Ever since that summer, to be exact, when they had disowned him and then signed him over to Frost's care. He hadn't spoken to his brother James either. He had been busy, but also angry at all of them. He felt like he deserved to be treated better. But hadn't he learned that no one _deserved_ anything? As he thought about this now, his forehead wrinkled. Should he call them? Had they maybe been worried about him? Probably not Dad, or James, because he wasn't even sure they were capable…but maybe Mom was. After they had disowned him, he had changed his cell phone plan, along with his number. Julian thought about it for a while, his eyes drifting down to Laura sleeping on his shoulder. Her relationship with her mother was so much simpler. Sarah had been selfish, had used her talent in genetics to create something that never should have existed. A little girl that would be subjected to years of dehumanizing treatment…torture…things that still made his stomach turn. She was the monster that had made the X-23 project possible. Laura should hate her most of all, more than anyone else at the facility. But she didn't. She seemed to love Sarah with a wholeheartedly simplicity that made no sense. She trusted her with the girls, which was possibly the most important part of her life, maybe even more than himself. It made him feel like maybe he didn't know how to love properly. Maybe he needed to just forget the bad things that had happened and try again.

Maybe.

* * *

"Julian!"

He awoke with a start, his eyes snapping open as Laura shook him, her expression frantic. "Wha-?" he asked, his forehead wrinkling.

"It is almost eight thirty. We have overslept."

For a moment, he panicked through a mental list of things he could have possibly missed. Exams. No, the quarter was only a month in. Mission? No, they had caught Alexander last night, and he was sitting in the Center containment cell, waiting for them to interrogate him, once Frost told them what to ask. Which would be tonight. They talked every Saturday evening, in code, so Summers wouldn't suspect anything. Not that Frost couldn't just wipe his mind, but the Cuckoos were on his side. They would know she'd done it, and restore his memories.

Then he realized what it was that they had been late for, and he sat bolt upright. "Shit." He reached out toward the closet and summoned a pair of jeans. "It'll be fine, we'll just explain—"

Laura gave him a withering look. "I do not want to break promises."

He fell silent and focused on getting dressed.

About twenty minutes later, they were landing outside a small beige house in a regular-looking neighborhood in the suburbs. The commute would be much longer if they drove, but Julian didn't have traffic or indirect routes to deal with. He set Laura down, and she immediately strode up the driveway, climbed the four wooden steps leading to the front porch, and knocked on the door.

Her fist hadn't even left the surface when it was ripped open, to reveal an extremely sulky looking Alice, wearing a frilly yellow sundress, her eyes narrowed and her lower lip protruding. "You are _late._ "

"I am sorry." Laura knelt. "We overslept. But IHOP is still open—"

"The pancakes will _know_ that we were late!" Alice interrupted, her tone indignant. "They will be angry and will not taste as good!"

"…" Julian's forehead wrinkled. "Alice, pancakes don't have _feelings._ "

"Yes they _do!_ " she argued, stamping her foot. A small bone claw popped out.

"No they don't. Otherwise it would hurt them when you eat them."

Alice's eyes widened, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. "They can _feel_ when I eat them?!"

Julian sighed. "No—"

"Alice, stop it." Betty had arrived at the door, pulling Smokey on a small leash. She was wearing just a plain red t-shirt and jeans, but had placed a small bowler hat on Smokey's front-facing end, tilted at a jaunty angle, and complete with a large curling feather.

He raised an eyebrow. "That's pretty fancy." He still didn't quite trust the smoke monster fragment, but it was important to Betty, so he tried to refrain from making too many negative comments about it.

Smokey made a pleased rattling sound.

"He says thank you. He picked it himself." Betty paused. "Are we going pancaking now?"

Gabby had arrived too, wearing a pink t-shirt and brown corduroy overalls. She frowned. "Alice thought the pancakes might be angry that we are late, but I told her that that was ridic—"

"PANCAKES have FEELINGS!" Alice squealed. "They HURT when we EAT them!" She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and bowed her head. "I am so, so, SO sorry. I will never eat a pancake again." She paused. "Or any other food. Because it probably _all_ has feelings."

Julian gave Laura a flat look. "It's your turn."

He was referring to last week, when the girls had briefly become convinced that anyone could become telekinetic if they tried hard enough and had wanted to practice jumping off the room until one of them flew, and he had spent an entire afternoon convincing them that this wasn't the case, including showing them mental pictures of what happened when he encountered vibranium and his powers got turned off.

Laura sighed. "Alice, stop it. You require nutrients. Food does not feel."

"Yes it DOES!" Her chin trembled. "I have murdered SO many things!"

Julian shifted as Laura gave him a helpless, pleading look. Damn, she could sure turn it on when she wanted to, just like the girls. He looked at Alice again. "Don't you think that…food…would have given you some kind of sign if it was alive you were hurting it?"

She paused. "No-o-o…"

"Would _you_ just stay quiet if something was eating you?"

Alice thought for a moment. "No! I would scream so loud, like—"

Julian sensed the deafening scream coming before she could take a deep enough breath to get it out. He reached out and closed her jaw with a finger on her chin. "It's okay. I can imagine. Hey, why don't we get going, and I'll let you fly on your own, okay?"

Alice's eyes widened, and she nodded.

He ruffled her hair. "Great." And grinned at Laura. "You're managing breakfast. Now go say hi to Sarah so we can get going here."

She closed her eyes but nodded.

* * *

Julian took a sip of his milkshake, grinning to himself as Laura desperately tried to control the three girls who were chattering loudly and fidgeting all over the place as they ate, her own food growing cold.

"—why are there salt and pepper shakers on the table—" Alice.

"—why is the sky blue, does it have anything to do with crayons because—" Betty.

"—I began to worry when you were late because you are never late and—" Gabby.

"—do they serve foods other than pancakes here—"

"—our neighbor Timothy told us that there is a large blue crayon that is used—"

"—you are usually at the door by seven, but then five minutes passed and there was no sign—"

"—because that would be ridiculous I mean it is _known_ that it is the International House of Pancakes—"

"—to color the sky but I told him that was ridiculous and it's _clearly_ a marker because—"

"—and then ten minutes had passed and I began to grow worried—"

"—I wonder what the other houses are like around the globe—"

"—there are no crosshatching lines like you would see with a crayon—"

"—and then _fifteen minutes had passed_ and I asked Betty if she thought—"

"—what do pancakes taste like in Africa? Or in China? Is there an IHOP in—"

"—and Timothy started _crying,_ he's so weak—"

"—we should inquire, but she said no. By then it was _seven twenty_ and I was certain that something had—"

"—the north pole? Would the pancakes there be _colder_ , or—"

"BE QUIET!" Laura ordered, finally hitting her limit.

The girls fell silent.

There was a pleased rattling noise under the table.

Julian rolled his eyes. The fucking smoke monster was overwhelmed. If that thing was sentient, he felt bad for it…once a _god_ and now it had sunk so low in life that it was forced to play dress up with a group of little girls…even _his_ life didn't suck that much. Yet.

"Can I give Smokey one of my pancakes?" Betty whispered.

He gave her a stern look. "He ate a whole _plate_ already." Literally. There had been a loud crunching noise earlier.

"He's still hungry!" Betty paused. "Besides, he loves blueberries and you just got him plain pancakes."

"…" Julian gazed at her. "Fine. Just _one._ But you have to eat the rest."

Betty slipped a pancake under the table and there was a loud _SLLLURRRPPP_ followed by another pleased rattling sound.

Laura began to eat.

He felt bad for her, too. She looked tired and flustered, and it wasn't her fault that the girls were such a handful. He decided that she had done her part and that he would handle whatever girls-related kerfuffle that came next.

Which didn't take long. Alice suddenly made a fist, popped her small claws with a _Snnkt!_ and raked them down the backing of her vinyl booth seat, exposing the cottony filling.

"What the—" He reached out and repaired the damage, causing the seat to seal back together. Then he gave the girl a very serious look. "Explain."

Alice squirmed. "I was testing if it had feelings."

Julian closed his eyes. "No. No it doesn't. Don't ever do that again, okay?"

The waitress chose that moment to check on them. "How's everything tasting so far? Can I get you anything else?" she asked, beaming.

"A tarp, please." Alice said this loudly. "I need to self-punish and there will be quite a large amount of blood. _Buckets_ and _buckets._ "

The waitress's smile faded. "What—"

Julian held his face in his hands as he wiped her memory of Alice speaking. "Nope, we're all good, thank you. Can I get the check?"

Her smile returned. "Of course! I'll be right back."

"What did we say about self-punishment?" He asked, as soon as she was out of earshot.

Alice frowned. "That we were to do it only in the gravest of situations, and I thought that this—"

"No." Laura spoke now, her tone severe. "No self-punishments anymore."

"We understand." Gabby said this, nodding. "Only when we have been very, _very_ bad."

"No!" Julian shook his head. "Never. There is no situation, ever, in which you should self-punish."

"Yes." Betty paused. "But on the rarest of occasions—"

"Oh my _god._ " He looked at Laura now, who seemed equally frustrated. "The hell is happening?"

"I am not certain." Laura hesitated. "Perhaps the programming is too deeply ingrained."

"Possibly." Gabby said this, nodding seriously, as if she was participating in the conversation. "Like our trigger mechanism."

Julian and Laura stared at her.

"…what trigger mechanism?" he asked.

The girls all shrugged.

"We don't know what it is." Betty.

"Just that we have one." Gabby.

"It was probably the reason for cuddle hour." Alice.

"Cuddle hour?" Laura asked, her eyebrows drawing together.

"Yes, when we would watch television and play with small animals." Gabby paused. "Young canines and felines. Then we would have a short sleeping session and wake up when everything was dead."

Silence.

"Should we self-punish?" Alice asked. "I feel like we should self-punish."

"Here's that check!" The waitress had returned. She placed it down on the table. "Have a great day now!"

"Thanks." Julian was looking at Laura, who had closed her eyes, obviously struggling to contain whatever reaction this new information had caused.

* * *

Laura was sitting on their bed, her arms wrapped around her legs, her face pressed against her knees. She had been mostly silent ever since the diner, telling him multiple times to go away. It was now late in the afternoon.

"Come on." Julian leaned on the doorframe. "We need to talk about this."

She said nothing.

"Laura, you promised—"

"There is nothing to discuss."

"There's plenty." He folded his arms. "The most important thing is…we'll get through this, okay? At least we know—"

"That they are monsters? Like I am?" Laura gritted her teeth. "We do not even know what their trigger is. It could strike at any time."

"And it might not at all." He raised an eyebrow. "Kimura and everyone who worked at that facility is _dead._ Maybe no one knows what the trigger was…so effectively it doesn't exist."

Laura gave him a flat look.

"We'll work on getting rid of yours. And then I'll know what to do for the girls."

"You have said that before." Her lip curled. "Yet the trigger remains, and one day it will be used against us."

Julian frowned. He felt a wave of unease. He had learned the hard way that Laura was usually right when it came to anything involving the facility. "Okay. Look. I'm talking to Frost tonight, about Alexander. I'll ask her what I need to do with your programming, okay? We'll take care of it, now, before anything bad happens."

She didn't look like she believed him. He didn't blame her. He knew the only way he could make her relax again was to actually get rid of it, for once and for all.

* * *

"Hi." Julian was standing on the porch, leaning on the railing and gazing out at the trees behind their small apartment, his phone pressed against his ear.

"Hello Julian." Frost sounded tired. "How are you?"

Julian thought of everything he had remembered today, the realization that he had become almost exactly what she had warned him about coming, and his eyebrows drew together. But he didn't think it was something she needed to hear right now. "Fine, you?"

"Exhausted. It…has been a long day." She paused. "There was an attack on the school."

"Is everyone okay?" he asked immediately, his forehead wrinkling, and his free hand forming a fist.

"Yes…mostly. Your friends are fine." She paused. "A rift to Limbo, a hell dimension, was opened by Colossus's sister, Magik. She was seeking Megan Gwyn, but she wasn't at the school when this happened. I spent my entire day fighting demons. They ruined my original Dolce and Gabbana pumps with _ectoplasmic slime vomit_. Five thousand dollars just gone."

Julian hesitated. "Why would you wear them to a fight if they were that expensive?"

"Pardon, but let me remind you that the Limbo rift was opened in _my_ office. I wore them with the expectation that I would be spending a relaxing Saturday managing the school budget via Excel on my computer _,_ not trying to prevent a portal to a hell dimension from swallowing the entire building."

"I guess that's fair." Julian frowned. "I can't say I wish I had been there."

"Understandable." Frost paused. "I hope your day has been more pleasant. How is Laura? And the girls?"

"Fine." He paused. "Well…that's not quite true." He looked down at his hand. "I need you to teach me how to get rid of the trigger scent programming. For once and for all."

"When I looked, it could not be done." Frost's voice was serious now. "The response is rooted deeply into her subconscious. Similar to an instinct. Us telepaths have little control over instinctive reactions."

"Yeah." He paused. "But in the arena…I _did_ reach her. On the astral plane."

"Interesting." He heard Frost taking a drink of something, then setting the glass down. "Do tell."

"Arcade sprayed her with this super trigger scent, and she blanked out. I had to find her and that's how I got on the plane in the first place…I had no idea about it before." He paused. "She was…she called herself "Not," and said she needed to protect Laura. I figured that getting rid of this Not is going to be the answer."

"Hmm. I had not thought about that." Frost sounded intrigued. "I had thought her response was primal…like Logan's berserker rages…and that there would simply be nothing to bring _to_ the astral plane." Pause. "Let me think about this and get back to you."

"Soon, please." Julian hesitated. "I might need it, if Arcade pops up again…or other things." He didn't want to say outright that the girls had programming, in case their call was somehow being tapped.

"Yes, understood." Frost cleared her throat. "Now, to move on to some practical matters. How is everything going with the Center? Did the computers I ordered arrive?" This was the agreed upon code for discussing X-force targets.

"Yeah." He looked out at the trees. "I checked the packages like you said, everything's there. Nothing was broken. Can you send me the list of software and stuff to install, and where they should go?"

"I'll email it to you shortly."

Before Frost had left California, after the old Geology building had been gutted and retrofitted following an enormous donation from the Frost Foundation, they had agreed on a cipher that would be used. Julian had it locked in his desk at the Center, which he used only for the purposes of reading her emails and doing homework. They had decided to avoid telepathic communications about their anti X-force activities, again to avoid alerting the Cuckoos of what they were up to.

"Great. Anything else you want me to check on?"

"Yes. I would like you to conduct some interviews for me, for office staff. I'll send that with the list of software. The first one will be tomorrow, in the late afternoon."

"Okay." He figured that probably meant a fact-finding mission was coming up, maybe something that could lead to a target that X-force would kill on sight. Otherwise, Logan would have refrained from informing Frost until there was an action plan. "I'll read it in the morning."

"Have a good evening."

"You too."

Julian hung up, then gazed at his phone for a moment, thinking. He opened the call app again and began to dial in one of the few numbers he knew by heart. His thumb slowed as he reached the last digit, and then froze above the green phone symbol, the one to place the call. He already had a lot on his plate, with leading the team, and homework, and Laura and the girls. And, although he didn't really want to admit it to himself, he wasn't sure how he could look his parents in the eyes. He had a sneaking, creeping suspicion that he wasn't their son anymore. Even though they had kind of dropped the ball on raising him through his teens, they _had_ taught him some lessons as a child. Among them, that he shouldn't hurt others. Something he'd done over and over and over again, during the past couple of years. Under someone else's directions, yes, and so he could eventually free Laura. But he could have chosen not to listen. Mind over matter, like Jean Grey-Summers had said. No one could make him do anything he didn't want to. Not even the facility. What would Mom say if she knew what he had done? If she knew the choices he had made? He closed the app and looked out at the trees again, his eyebrows drawn together, biting his lip. He wasn't sure how to manage this deep sinking feeling of guilt. He hadn't even known he would feel it, so much time later.

The balcony door opened, and Laura leaned out. "Are you coming inside?"

"Uh…yeah."

She watched him for a moment, then stepped out, sliding the door slightly behind her. "Your heart rate is elevated. Why?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

"Why?"

He closed his eyes. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You have asked me not to say that to you." Her voice was firm. "What is wrong?"

Julian closed his eyes, hesitating. For a long time, he didn't know what to say. How to put a feeling he didn't understand himself into words. Probably exactly how she had felt many times. He shook his head. "I just…I guess now that we're kind of…things are settling down a bit and I have time to think and…" his eyebrows drew together. "How do you live with the things you've done, Laura?" It came out more desperately than he intended.

Laura gazed at him, her eyebrows drawing together too. "I do not know." She paused, folded her arms around herself. "Many of them…would have hurt others." Another pause. "And the others…those who were innocent…I will never forget them. But I was not given a choice." She paused, her expression growing harder somehow. The set of her mouth. "If you are asking me how to not feel like…something that should not exist…it is not possible." He sensed she was referring to earlier. The trigger scent.

After a moment, he nodded. He understood.

They stood on the porch for a while in silence. Then Laura returned to the apartment, her shoulders stiff. She was carrying on with life, and so should he. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and followed her inside.


	43. Chapter 43 - Pain Helps

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Thanks for reviews! Sorry updating is taking a while again, real life stuff. Here's the next chapter :)

* * *

CHAPTER 43

 _Pain Helps_

* * *

Laura gazed at the man sitting in the holding cell. She was standing in front of it with her arms folded, her chin raised slightly. Lip curled.

Lucas Alexander gazed back at her, his mouth tilted upwards in a slight, contented smile, like he was just was just where he wanted to be.

Julian was in his office, getting their instructions. She had let him go, thinking it best if someone supervised the prisoner. She did not trust the others to keep guard, not after Hepzibah's shift, during which the alien had "seen a promising shiny" out a window during a bathroom break and had left to pursue it, without telling anyone. She was uncertain why Julian allowed her to participate with their activities at all, although she suspected it was to keep James happy. He was not too incompetent, so she had so far remained silent, but if Hepzibah caused any more senseless problems…

She had also not mentioned the trigger scent deprogramming again, although she wondered what Frost had told him. She had sat on the bed and listened to him talk on the porch, but Frost's voice on the other end had been too low to make out. Julian had not said anything. Granted, it had only been last night and he had to focus on Alexander, but she could not help feeling anxious. Not only for herself, but for the girls. She did not want them to have to suffer the traumatic experience of being triggered ever again.

She heard Julian's footsteps as he left his office. He entered the holding area a few moments later. His expression was serious, dark eyebrows drawn together, mouth fixed in a slight frown. "Open the cell."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were going to retrieve the information telepathically."

Julian looked at her, his lip curling now. "No. This piece of shit doesn't get off that easy. He _murdered_ people. He's one of Stryker's men."

She hesitated. "We have killed too."

"Yeah. But not like he has." He paused. "You can either help me…or go wait outside."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. But she walked over to the biopad and entered the code, then pressed her hand against it. The blue bars of energy running from floor to ceiling along the walls of the cell disappeared.

Julian entered the cell, grabbed Alexander by his collar and slammed him against the wall, his teeth gritted. "You're going to answer every goddamn question, you understand?"

"It would be my pleasure." His voice was soft. Pleasant.

Laura made a fist. _Snkkt!_ She held up her gleaming claws. "I will be able to tell if you lie."

"Me too." Julian grabbed his hand with his metal one. "Lie and I'll crush your fingers."

Alexander began to laugh.

"Be qu—" Laura began.

 _Snap!_

"Hnnnk—" Alexander squeezed his eyes shut.

"Feel that? I can do it nine times more. And then I'll start over." Julian's eyes narrowed. "Where is William Stryker?"

"You really think I would know that?" Alexander snorted. "Please."

Laura sniffed the air. "He is telling the truth."

"I know." Julian did not take his eyes off his captive. "What is he planning?"

"Again. No clue." Alexander paused. "Just know it's going to be…amazing. He's going to rid the earth of you filthy creatures."

 _Snap!_

"Grrr—" Alexander sneered at him. "I'm not lying."

"Yeah, I know." Julian sneered back at him. "My hands kind of slip sometimes. Happens when pieces of shit try to talk down to me. What's 'the Purge'?"

Alexander raised an eyebrow. "You've heard. Impressive."

Julian gritted his teeth. _Snap!_ "What _is_ it?"

"ARRGH!" The man slammed his head back against the wall. "I don't know! JESUS! STOP!" Tears had begun to stream down his cheeks.

"Those people you murdered didn't even have a chance to _ask_ you to stop." Julian shrugged. "Don't see why you should, do you?"

 _Snakt._ Laura retracted her claws and put a hand on his shoulder, then looked at Alexander again. "What is 'the Purge'? Tell us, and he will stop."

"I don't kn-know." He sniffled. "All I know is it's the masterplan. N-no idea what it actually is."

 _Snff._ "He is not—"

"Yeah." Julian's eyes narrowed. _Snap!_

"ARRRGH!"

"Stop—" Laura began, but he had already shoved Alexander away and was moving out of the cell again, the air around him flickering. She looked down at the man's mangled hand, and decided to get Josh. Surprisingly, he did not comment on the damage, only gave the man a brief touch and then left.

Afterward, she followed Julian's scent trail outside, but then it rose into the air and she stopped, her eyebrows draw together. After a while she returned to the Center, hoping that he would return soon.

* * *

Laura glanced at her phone as it buzzed on Julian's desk, indicating she had received a text. She leaned forward in his chair and picked it up, hoping that it was him, but it was Cessily.

 _Coffee?_

She hesitated, her eyebrows drawing together. She did not want to leave without knowing where he was, but she was hungry, and he might not return for hours.

 _Yes._ She texted back. _Where?_

 _Starbucks. Be there in fifteen._

She slipped her phone into her pocket and rose to her feet. Perhaps Cessily would know what to do.

* * *

"Laura! Over here!" Cessily was waving enthusiastically, apparently not realizing that she had detected her before even entering the café. She was sitting with Hepzibah, who was gazing down at her beverage, eyebrow arched and nose wrinkled, as if in distaste.

"You call this _coffee?_ " she asked, as Laura approached.

Cessily gave her an odd look. "Yeah, what do _you_ call coffee?"

"Not _this_." Hepzibah snorted. "This is like the mud we use for bathing. Clearly no rocket fuel in this."

"…clearly." Cessily looked at Laura. "Sit down, please! I thought we should have a get together…since y'know we're the girls on the team."

"Where I come from, females do not gather together because we're all competitors for mates." Hepzibah paused. "But I don't think I need to worry about it here. James would never go for someone who looks like _you._ "

Cessily stared at her. "Excuse me?! Did you just make a comment about my _mercury?!_ "

"No, about your hideous ginger hair." Hepzibah rolled her eyes. "You're a nightmare now. I can only imagine how bad it was when you were one of the fleshy meat-bags."

Laura gazed at her, eyebrows raised.

"You on the other hand are not as terrible." Hepzibah was looking at her now. "Perhaps if you made your eyes larger."

"…" Cessily's forehead wrinkled. "I don't think she can control that."

"You can control _anything_ if you just put some work into it." Hepzibah's tail flicked. "But it really doesn't matter, if you have a big enough—"

"Oh god, here we go again with the shinies." Cessily closed her eyes.

"I was going to say _stink sack!_ God!" Hepzibah glowered. "Why is _everything_ about _shinies_ with you people?!"

"…" Laura also closed her eyes.

"Please, just stop talking." Cessily paused. "So, what's up with you Laura? Anything fun? Did you see _Lost_ last week?!" She brightened on the last question.

Laura had been planning to ask about Julian but did not feel comfortable with Hepzibah present. "I—no."

"Why?" Cessily sounded disappointed.

"We do not have a television."

"What?!" Cessily stared at her. "Why?! What do you guys _do_ with your free timethen? Stare at the wall?"

"No." Laura's forehead wrinkled. "We practice reproduction."

"…" Cessily covered her face with her hands. "Why did I think this was a good idea?" she mumbled into them.

"I don't understand either." Hepzibah gave Laura a knowing look. "She invites us here and then gets upset when we answer her questions. No wonder she's mate-less." Pause. She looked at Cessily again. "You know, I could probably set you up with my cousin Harrold."

"No thank you."

"Oh come on! He has an incredible tail and he's only on his third life. You'd like him, since you're so obsessed with talking about shinies. He _lives_ for them. If you think my collection is impressive—"

"…" Cessily made a face and looked at Laura. "Help" she mouthed.

Laura's eyebrows drew together. "She is already 'with' Santo."

Hepzibah wrinkled her nose. "What, really?" Pause. "Damn, I didn't think he would look twice at _you._ Someone's doing pretty well for herself, isn't she? Although you'd think with your three-syllable name—"

"Oh my _god_ just shut up." Cessily paused. "Laura…I wanted to tell you, I saw an ad, a department on campus is looking for tutors. Would you be interested?"

Laura hesitated. "I have never taught before."

"It's a great way to learn yourself! And maybe it would be good for figuring out stuff with the girls, you know?"

"Perhaps."

"So when are you expecting your first litter?" Hepzibah interjected.

Laura paused. "Litter?"

"You said you were practicing reproduction." Her tail flicked. "At some point, I'd assume you'd get it right and have a litter. Or is he having trouble finding the right hole?"

Cessily's eyes bulged. "Oh. My. _God._ "

"…" Laura's nose wrinkled. "No, we are not planning to have a 'litter.'"

"Wait, you weird skunk creatures have _litters?"_ Cessily paused. "How…how many?"

"Oh, usually five or six for a first one." Hepzibah shrugged. "My mother has had three. I have thirteen brothers and one sister."

"Jesus!" Cessily's forehead wrinkled. "Uh, does James know?"

"No, I was going to surprise him after the 'wedding.'" Hepzibah smiled, a rare gesture, showing her small fangs. "Nothing blesses a new union like a large litter."

Laura suspected James would be alarmed if he heard this. She made a mental note to discreetly inform him, somehow. Which might be difficult given Hepzibah also had enhanced senses. Perhaps Julian could tell him telepathically.

Hepzibah glanced at the clock and stood. "I have to go. I'm trying this earth service called 'Skype' with my mother in about fifteen minutes. We're planning the union ceremony."

"Oh, wow. You're really going through with it?" Cessily asked, sounding startled.

Hepzibah rolled her eyes. " _Yes_ I'm 'really going through with it.' God, you sound just like my great aunt. She thinks I could do so much better. She's not wrong, but I don't _want_ to do better." She flicked her tail and left without saying another word.

"Oh thank god." Cessily said this when she had disappeared from view. "I don't know what I was thinking. She's completely impossible."

"Yes." Laura hesitated. "I am having problems with Julian."

Cessily froze. "Please don't tell ask me about finding the right hole."

"No." Her eyebrows drew together. "It is about…he is having a difficult time. Adjusting from X-force to what we are doing now." Pause. "I want to help him, but I am not certain how."

"Oh." Cessily frowned. "Are you guys not talking again?"

"We are." Laura paused. "But I do not know what to say."

"Maybe just listen." Her friend shrugged. "Sometimes, that's all you can do. And maybe he'll say something that you _can_ help with. That's my advice."

Laura considered this. "Thank you."

Cessily beamed. "Of course! I hope it gets better…let me know if you need more help."

"Yes." Laura nodded. "I will."

* * *

Laura slipped back into their apartment, her eyebrows drawing together again. He still was not home, and she was beginning to grow slightly concerned. He was usually home by this time, since he had class early on Monday morning. She sat on the edge of the bed.

Sometime later she jolted awake to the sound of the door closing, and sat up, blinking. She had fallen asleep waiting. But he was finally home, she could hear him in the hallway. After a moment she stood up and followed him into the kitchen. "Hello."

"Hi." Julian's voice was flat, and he was hanging his head.

She sniffed the air. Ozone. He had been flying, high up. "Where were you?"

He shrugged. "Just thinking."

She raised an eyebrow. "About?"

"How I can't do this." He paused. "Being with these people…these pieces of shit…it makes it all come back." He closed his eyes. "It would've been so easy to just off him and be done with it. It would've felt so natural."

Laura folded her arms. "You said no more killing."

He looked at her now, his eyes narrowing and his lip curling. "Easy for you to say. You need to pop your claws to do anything. All I have to do is _think_ about it." Pause. "Want to tell me how many times a day you think about killing someone?"

She paused. "Many." Her voice had a tone of admission.

"Yeah." He sneered. "So tell me again how easy this is."

"I did not say that." She reached out and brushed the back of her fingertips against his cheek. "It is not easy."

He said nothing, but his sneer faded slightly.

She hesitated. "The right things are often not easy."

"I know." He rubbed his face with his metal hands. "I just…we were doing good and then…being in the middle of this just brings it all back and I…I don't even know how I feel anymore." He paused, gave her a desperate look. "How am I going to keep it together if I can't get away from it? How am I going to control myself?"

Laura closed her eyes. Here it was again. She had found it difficult to be helpful last night, when he had asked her how she managed to do the exact thing he was asking her to do. To exist, when she was constantly reminded that her doing so was a danger to everyone around her. She still found it difficult. But there was something in his voice that distressed her. She hesitated. "I have always found…that pain helps." She opened her eyes and saw that he was watching her. His eyes were very blue.

"That's right." He paused. "You cut yourself."

Laura said nothing.

His forehead wrinkled. "I should be telling you how fucked up that is."

She looked down at the floor, her eyebrows drawing together.

"But I'm all fucked up now too. So who am I to talk." He paused. "I have no idea what I would do. I don't have claws."

Laura hesitated for a moment. "Follow." And headed to the bedroom.

He hesitated by the door. "I don't feel like—"

"No. Sit down."

After a moment he did as she asked, perching down beside her.

Laura made a fist. _Snkkt!_ "Hold out your arm."

Julian's eyes widened. "What're you going to do?"

"Hold out your arm. I will show you how I do it."

After a moment he did as she asked. She laid his arm in her lap, looked down at it, and lightly drew the tip of her claw along the inside, along the metal. A small curl of material raised directly behind the blade, then melded back into his arm, as if healing. She paused, then ran her claw up to his skin, curious. A small streak of blood welled up, but the wound slowly began to seal. _Snakt!_ as she withdrew her claws. She raised her head again and looked at him. "That is what to do. But it will not work as well if I do it for you." Pause. "You need…to control the sensation. That is what is most important."

Julian stared at her for a moment.

Her eyebrows drew together again. Had she done something wrong? She sniffed the air and raised an eyebrow. "You are—"

"Yep." He shrugged. "That was hot."

"Would you—"

"Yep."

* * *

A while later, Laura was laying with her cheek pressed against his chest, listening to his heart and thinking. She was not certain if she had been helpful, or if he had only become distracted from the problem. Either way, he seemed to be more relaxed now.

She cleared her throat. "Julian?"

"Mmm?"

"There is something I think you should tell James."

"Mmm?"

"Hepzibah is planning to surprise him with a litter of five to six offspring."

"…" Julian sat up and gave her a strange look. " _What?_ "

"She told me this when we were having coffee with Cessily today."

"Holy fuck." He paused. "Wait. Offspring...as in _kids?_ "

"Yes." Her eyebrows drew together. "As I said, she is planning to surprise him, but I thought perhaps he should know first."

"I doubt he wants _a_ kid right now…let alone five to six." Julian paused. "Poor guy. Can you imagine how hard that would be?"

"Yes." Laura paused too, thinking of the girls. "Twice as hard."

He shuddered. "I'll, uh, say something."

Silence.

"Julian?"

"Mmm?"

She looked up at him. "Are you okay now?"

He glanced down at her, then nodded, his eyebrows drawing together. "Thanks."

She said nothing, but the corners of her lips turned upward.

* * *

 _WOOSH!_

Julian looked up from his desk, startled, to see three people had arrived: Megan, Frost, and Ruth. "Oh-I was _just_ emailing you back." This was the truth, but he had been sitting in front of his keyboard, staring at the screen and trying to think of what to write about what he'd learned. He wasn't sure why it was so hard to do. It was just information. Maybe it was everything that had happened when he was getting that information.

"No need." Frost brushed off the sleeves of her white blazer, wrinkling her nose slightly. "Goodness, Megan, would it be at all possible for you to avoid releasing glitter when you teleport? I feel rather as if I've gone rolling through the aisles of a _craft store_."

Megan's wings fluttered. "Hey, you can always take the jet if it bothers you that much." She popped her ever-present bubble gum for good measure.

Frost sighed and looked at Julian. "A meeting was cancelled, and I ended up with unexpected free time. Ruth and I are here to assist with Laura's...situation. But first, could you please gather the others? I thought a check-in would be prudent."

Julian nodded. He guessed she was feeling guilty about her lack of involvement before, which had allowed for X-force to happen in the first place. He sent a thought to the rest of the team, then pulled out his phone and texted Laura, who he knew was at the library. "It'll probably be a few. Santo and Josh are finishing classes. You want anything?"

"Some tea would be nice." Frost looked around his office and frowned. "Not even a house plant?"

"I don't spend a lot of time here." He glanced at Ruth. "How's it going?"

She smiled. "She will flay me alive. Not because she wants my skin. But, thank you, I am not worried."

"..." Megan raised an eyebrow. "Well you're a right ray of sunshine today. _._ "

"Sorry I asked, as usual." Julian glanced at the other girl. "And you? Heard you have some kind of demon looking for you?"

"Yeah, Magik's on my tail again. Dr. Strange helped me up my protection spells last night though, should be okay." Megan grinned. "She can't grab me if she can't find me."

"Guess not." Julian paused. "You want anything while I'm in the kitchen?"

"Just a water." Megan.

"A perfect soul." Ruth.

"Cool." Julian left his office, shaking his head. He knew Ruth was often helpful, but he had his doubts about whether she could do anything for Laura. She seemed to be trancing out about whatever she was seeing in the future right now. Which would probably end up being useful. Later. Not with Laura, he suspected. But Frost must know what she was doing. He headed to the kitchen.

By the time he returned with the beverages, he could sense the others nearing the Center, so he led Frost and her companions to the meeting room, which would probably be more comfortable, and convenient, since she would probably want to see Alexander herself.

"Hey man." James was coming down the hallway, followed closely by Hepzibah. He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "We were just getting some frozen yogurt at that self-serve place. You should've seen what she made. Pretty gross."

Hepzibah rolled her eyes. "Excuse _me_ for not having your inferior human taste buds." Her tail flicked.

Julian gazed at them for a moment, his forehead wrinkling. He'd just remembered what Laura told him last night, about the alien planning to have a _litter_ of kids with his friend. By surprise. He realized he needed to tell him soon, before it was too late, but now didn't feel like the right time.

James frowned. "Something wrong?"

"Er, no." Julian shrugged. "Just...can we talk later?"

"Sure." His friend paused. "You canning me from the team?"

Julian tried to grin. "You should be so lucky." He saw Laura down the hallway.

She pointed at Hepzibah with a questioning look.

He shook his head slightly and turned away to open the door to the conference room, hoping she would understand not to bring it up yet. He could only imagine how awkward _that_ would be, with Frost present.

A few minutes later, everyone had finally arrived, and taken a seat at the table. Frost was seated at the end, where Julian usually sat, on the rare occasions they actually used it. Which was mostly when there was stuff for them to look at, except for that time Cessily had brought caffeine for everyone after an all-nighter.

Frost clasped her hands on the surface and cleared her throat, then smiled at them all. "Good. I wanted to take this opportunity to-"

 _SHRRRRIIIPPPPPP._

Julian gazed up at the swirling green circle that had formed in the air, just above the center of the table. As did Frost, who swore softly under her breath.

"Dude! What're you-" Santo began, in an accusing tone. Laura was also looking at him, her forehead wrinkled.

"It _wasn't_ me!" Julian hissed, gritting his teeth. "Why does everyone _always_ -"

"Please, children." Frost covered her face with her hands. "I recognize this. It is a portal to Limbo. Julian, be a dear and _please_ attempt to hold the-"

 _SSSSHRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!_

The room shook as the portal began to widen. Then they were all tumbling through space. Julian barely shielded himself in time as the large table came flying in his direction, but then a chair thwacked him in the back of the head, and things began spinning even harder and faster. Then he was falling.

 _CRUNCH!_

"UGHHHHN." He took a moment to press himself against the ground, into which he had just been slammed. His kneecaps and elbows were screaming in pain. After a moment he rolled over and hurled, then stretched out and closed his eyes, his lip curling. It felt like time travel. Which he loathed with a passion. He also now hated portals, he decided. Finally he sat up and looked around him. He had landed in the middle of a dusty red expanse. Some kind of desert, in a hell dimension. "Great. Perfect."

There was a scraping sound beside him, then Santo reformed. "Aw, not _this_ place again."

"You've been here?" Julian asked this flatly.

"Yeah. Once, couple years back…when Megan got an upgrade to her soul dagger." Santo paused. "Grr, I got a weird feelin' that I forgot to do somethin'."

"Well, whatever it is, it's going to have to wait a bit." Julian got to his feet slowly, rubbing his head. "Maybe Frost can write you some kind of note."

"Maybe." Santo frowned in a puzzled way, then shrugged. "So, what we doin' here, boss?"

"Don't look at _me._ " Julian brushed dust off his shirt. " _You've_ been here before, _and_ I just got my skull split open by a chair. I have no clue what the hell is going on."

 _WOOSH!_

"I do." Megan's wings fluttered. Her eyes were black. "Magik's hunting for me. We gotta keep her from stealing my soul dagger, or it means trouble."

"I can only imagine." Frost had been transported with her. She looked as enthusiastic as Julian felt. "Good lord, I thought this was all over. _Must_ Piotr's sister insist on being such a pain in my derriere?"

"She's a pain in your dog? Huh?" Santo looked confused. "You callin' her a bitch?"

"Not 'terrier,' Santo." Julian rolled his eyes. "It's a fancy word for 'ass'."

"Oh." His friend frowned. "Why didn't she just say so then? 'Ass' is a way shorter word, ain't it?"

Julian rubbed his aching head. "Stop fucking looking at me for answers."

"Because I don't much enjoy vulgarity, dear." Frost sighed. "I now see the effort was futile. Never mind. Come, I sense that the others have landed to the east." She pointed. "There seems to be a structure there, in the distance. Megan, please teleport us."

" _SIHAL NOVARUM CHINOTH!"_

Nothing happened.

"Oh bollocks." Megan folded her arms. "Magik's just put up a blocking-spell. We're going to have to hoof it."

Frost looked unamused. "Wonderful. Julian, would you mind-"

"On it." Julian made a fist and lifted himself, Santo and Frost into the air. His head throbbed, but not as badly as before. He gritted his teeth against the pain and began to fly them toward the structures in the distance. Megan followed, her clear insectoid wings fluttering rapidly to keep up.

* * *

 _BAM!_

Laura gritted her teeth as she slammed into the dusty ground and sank several feet, the mass of her heavy bones causing her impact to be much harsher than that of the others. She finally stopped moving and hung her head, her lip curled. This felt as unpleasant as the occasion in which they had time travelled to the future, to save Hope. She realized that she did not like portals any better.

After a few moments, she began to crawl out of the pit she had formed. At least she had not landed _on_ anyone, or they would certainly be dead. She reached the lip of the crater and peered over. The dust from her impact was blocking out the landscape, so she hauled herself over the edge and rose to her feet, then began to walk, focusing on her senses. Her nostrils were clogged and burning from the dusty ground, but she should hopefully see or hear someone soon. Her assumption was correct, as she soon found Cessily, also crawling out of a pit.

"Sucks to be the heavier ones, huh?" Her friend asked, as she reached down and offered her a hand out.

"Yes." Laura paused. "Frost said this was a portal to Limbo, do you know what that means?"

"Thanks. Yeah. Limbo's a hell dimension." Cessily got to her feet. "I've been here once before. With Santo, and Megan. Oh, and-"

* * *

"Stop! Put me down!" Santo suddenly yelled.

"Huh?" Julian looked back over his shoulder at his friend. "What? Why?"

"Just do it!"

"..." Frost gave him a flat look. "Yes, do it."

Mystified, Julian swooped lower and set them all down.

Santo immediately started running backward. They followed him for about thirty feet, then he suddenly dropped to his knees and scooped up what looked like a small salamander in his big palms. "Aw. _Shit._ Dude, I am _so so_ sorry. I...uh...yeah."

"..." Julian reached him. "The hell? Why are you apologizing to a _lizard_?"

"This ain't a lizard." Santo's craggy brow shelf was low over his eyes, like his eyebrows were drawing together. He got to his feet and carried the salamander over to Megan. "Uh, would you, um, mind changin' him back?"

Megan raised her eyebrow. "Wot?"

Frost pressed a palm across her face. "I am officially the worst headmistress in the world. Megan, that is a student. Do you know how to undo curses?"

"Uh...I can try?" Megan moved over to the salamander and touched it lightly, murmuring something under her breath, in an uncertain tone.

 _POOF!_

A green boy was suddenly sitting in Santo's palms. Victor. His eyes bulged. "YOU-"

"Dude! I am so-"

"PUT ME DOWN!" Victor looked like he was going to pop an artery.

Santo set him down, frowning deeply.

Julian gazed at them for a moment. "Wait. You mean to tell me-" his eyebrows drew together. "Aw, Santo, you _left_ him here? For how long?"

"TWENTY YEARS!" Victor bellowed, as Santo mumbled "Two years."

"Time passes differently in Limbo." Megan's wings fluttered. "It probably _felt_ like twenty, but it was actually two earth years."

"THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY BETTER!" Victor glared at Santo. "Oh my god. You are-"

"The worst friend ever! I _know!_ " Santo grimaced. "Dude. I am so, so, _so_ sorry."

"I SPENT TWENTY YEARS AS A LIZARD!" Victor screamed.

Julian's forehead wrinkled. "Aren't you a lizard normally?"

Victor turned his gaze to him. "What is wrong with you people? THERE IS NOTHING THAT MAKES THIS OKAY!"

"Hey, I was just...nevermind." Julian paused and looked at Santo. "Yeah, this is a new low for you."

Santo hung his head.

"I am not blameless." Frost was still rubbing her face with her palm. "I...I should have noticed...a missing student...this is my fault as well." She paused and looked up. "Victor, you had spoke about leaving the school to stay with your aunt shortly before the first Limbo incursion several years ago...and I suppose I assumed you had simply gone with her. I am sorry, I should have checked. Can you forgive me?"

"..." Victor gritted his teeth. "I've been eating HELL FLIES for the last TWENTY YEARS that were buzzing around DEMON POOP. NO, I CAN'T FORGIVE ANYONE WHO WAS INVOLVED IN THIS!" He kicked the ground, then started to stomp away.

"God damn." Julian's forehead wrinkled. "And I thought the X-men fucked _me_ over."

Silence.

"Well, we should probably get a move on." Frost's voice wavered slightly. "This is a nasty reminder that time passes differently here. I would hate to return to Earth and discover we have been here a century."

"..." Julian gave her an alarmed look, then lifted them all into the air and began flying again. He grabbed Victor by the arm as he passed over him, ignoring his angry screeches of protest. The last thing he needed was to be forgotten again.


	44. Chapter 44 - Soulless

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Hi all! Sorry for the major delay in chapters again. Life has been very hard, more family matters, and also I had a dental emergency that resulted in some painful procedures...followed right away by a head cold that made me sneeze lots and bite on the painful area, so I've been a little out of it for a bit. Here's the next installment, hopefully life stops sucking so I can get the next one out sooner. Enjoy :)

* * *

CHAPTER 44

 _Soulless_

* * *

"This place smells terrible." Hepzibah said this loudly, in a voice full of complaint. "Like someone ate rotten eggs, farted, then lit it on fire."

James grinned.

"..." Cessily's eyebrows drew together. " _Ugh._ Why can't you be more like Laura?"

Laura frowned slightly. "The air here contains a large amount of sulfur, which is a component of flatulence. Her analysis was not inaccurate."

Hepzibah rolled her eyes. " _Spare me._ That break-down wouldn't even get you into Scent Academy."

Cessily gave Laura a flat look. "There's a _Scent Academy_ now."

"I keep forgetting how inferior Earth's education is. Doesn't even have a Scent Academy...you humans don't have _any_ sensory training at all." Hepzibah sighed. "Such a dull planet. _And_ it's pocket hell dimension is only a grade 4. At best. Now, the Tryl'sart hell dimension is a grade _20_ hell dimension, with _three_ -"

"Oh my god." Cessily looked at James. "Please. Make her stop. Right now."

James cleared his throat. "Hep, can you focus on looking for the others?"

"I have been-" Laura began to interrupt, but Cessily raised her hand, mouthing "trust me." So she fell silent.

"Oh, _fine._ " Hepzibah sighed dramatically, her tail flicking. "I'll just do _everything,_ why don't I? Because everyone else is so utterly incompetent." But she also fell silent and began to walk again, apparently concentrating on her senses.

Cessily shook her head and bit her lip, her eyes bulging briefly as she glanced at Laura.

Laura glanced at James, who was looking at the ground again as he often did, but noted that the corners of his lips were turned slightly upward. She had noticed this before, and remembered what Julian had said, about Hepzibah being "a joke." Did James not actually regard her seriously? Her eyebrows drew together. As much as the alien bothered her sometimes, she sensed this would not be a good thing, and she did not wish negative things for her. She decided to ask Julian about it later.

Ruth, who had been walking a few feet behind them, stopped. "She is coming."

"'She'?" Cessily asked.

 _POP!_

"SHIT!" She exclaimed, stumbling backward with wide eyes.

A woman had appeared beside her. She had a human upper body, with a long, thin tail, and the legs of what seemed like a goat. Horns rose out of her forehead and curled back against her light blond hair. Deep shadows formed against her pale skin, even though she was well illuminated. She scowled at them for a moment, her smoking red eyes sweeping around the group, then a blue disc of light appeared beneath their feet.

 _POP!_

They had been teleported somewhere. Laura whirled around, just as a _creature_ came for her. Humanoid. Purple-skinned. With eight human-style arms. She popped her claws with a _snkkt_ and slammed them into its belly, but it ignored her, grabbing her wrists and slamming her back against a stone slab, using another set of hands to lock shackles around them. The other sets of arms simultaneously shackled her ankles.

"Grrr!" Laura was twisting against her chains, but it was no use. They must be adamantium. She did not understand how the metal was anchored so well to the rock that it would not give. Normally, her metal-lined bones and slightly enhanced strength were enough to exploit such weaknesses.

Finally she gave up and began to examine her surroundings. She was now in a vast room with walls and floors of sandy red stone, full of slabs similar to the one she was now chained to. These were arranged in a circle. She tilted her head slightly as she heard footsteps approaching. Along with dragging noises. Laura watched as the creature reentered the room, dragging an unconscious James and Hepzibah. A second creature entered carrying Ruth, whose head was encased in a large metal helmet. Third and last was a creature hefting what looked like an enormous glass container, containing Cessily. She mouthed words that Laura could not hear as she passed.

 _POP!_

Illyana was back, her red eyes sweeping around the room. "She is not here!" she hissed at the purple creatures, which had just finished securing the others to slabs. "Keep searching. Go!" She waved her fingers and they disappeared, as if they had ceased to exist.

Then she turned to her captives, and smiled slowly, exposing fangs. Her tail flicked back and forth. "You've wasted enough of my time, X-men. This ends now. I _will_ have the soulsword." Illyana took a step toward Ruth. "I will question each of you."

She was now chained to a slab. Her mouth, the only part of her face visible beneath the large metal helmet, was set in a calm line, and her body hung easily from her chains, as though she were not resisting her capture at all.

Illyana placed her finger under Ruth's chin. "Telepath." She said this in a soft voice, her upper lip curling. "Future-seer. Tell me, do you see your fate if you don't give Gwynn up?"

"Yes." Ruth said this in an equally soft voice. Her chin trembled slightly. "But, pardon, I also see our fate if we do. I am sorry. Either way, excuse me, we all lose. A stolen soul will not stop the ache."

Illyana's eyes narrowed. She raised her hand and slapped Ruth's lower face, hard. _Thwack!_ "Do not speak to me as if you know me, blind know _nothing_."

Ruth was silent.

Illyana turned to Cessily's tube next. "Ah. I remember you. The annoying metal blob."

Cessily glared at her captor, her eyes narrowing into slits.

"You're resistant to most magics…" Illyana grinned, reaching over and pressing a button on the top of the tube. A moment later, a blinding bolt of electricity coursed through it, and Laura could hear muffled screams. "But this _isn't_ magic."

Magic? Laura's eyebrows drew together. She had encountered this before, through her experiences with Megan and later Nico in Murderworld, but she still did not know much about this force. Perhaps that was why she was so well secured to the slab.

"More of that later." Illyana looked at Hepzibah next. "You're a joke, right? You look like a giant squirrel."

Hepzibah bared her teeth. "Excuse _me,_ I am _nothing_ like a squirrel." Her bushy tail flicked irritably against its restraints. "I am a Mephitisoid. The closest earth analogy would be a skunk, and-"

Illyana rolled her eyes and raised her hand again. "You have the most _annoying_ voice I have ever heard. Just never talk again."

"..." Hepzibah's eyes bulged, as she tried to speak, but could not.

"And you." Illyana had already moved on to James. "I heard your pulse elevate when I looked at the squirrel." She smiled slowly. "That will be useful. More later. Unless you want to make this easy and give Gwynn up _now?"_ She looked around the circle. "There is one-and _only_ one-way out of this for everyone. And that is Gwynn and her soulsword, delivered to me. I will let everyone go the moment I have her."

"No." Laura said this, her voice firm. She did not know yet what Illyana was capable of, but she knew that she would not give anyone up to her just to save herself.

Illyana glanced at her, her red eyes narrowing. "Very well." She raised her hand, looking at Ruth again. "Let's get started, then."

* * *

"Dudes, that castle looks _scary._ " Santo grimaced. "We sure we wanna go in there?"

Julian gazed up at the big, dark, looming structure, and silently agreed. His first instinct was to fly the other way. But he doubted he'd get that luxury anytime soon. Just like he had no choice about coming here in the first place. He closed his eyes and kicked the dusty ground, trying not to let himself think about how frustrating his life was. He already had enough problems going on without a stupid side trip to a hell dimension on top of everything.

"Yeah, otherwise we're not getting out of here." Megan paused. "Besides, this has got to stop. I can't just keep running from Magik...I need to face her for once and for all. Be done with it."

"That may be for the best, dear." Frost, her voice flat. "For all of our sakes. And for the sake of my wardrobe."

Victor made a small scoffing noise, folding his arms. "You're worried about losing _clothes?_ How about, oh, I don't know, _twenty years_ of your _life?!"_

"It _wasn't_ -" Santo began.

"We going to bust in or what?" Julian interrupted, his voice full of impatience. "Because I swear to god, if _I_ lose twenty years listening to this stupid argument…" he gritted his teeth at the thought.

Silence.

"Great." He turned back to the castle. "If we go on foot, we're going to have a bunch of whatever-the-fuck those things are on our hands." He pointed at the shadowy figures in the courtyard, which vaguely resembled enormous bulldogs, with multiple heads.

"Hellhounds." Megan's wings fluttered.

"Sure." Julian pointed up at the top spire of the castle with a metal finger. "We could try flying up there."

"If only it was so simple." Frost sighed and nodded upward, to the right. "I have been watching the gargoyle sculptures on the ledge. They are...alive."

He paused and studied said sculptures for a moment. A twitching wing gave one away. "Son of a bitch."

"Quite." Frost raised an eyebrow. "Illyana has also telepathically warded the exterior, somehow. I suspect a spell. Judging by the face that I was the first to be attacked at the school, she is wary of mental intrusion." She glanced at him. "She will probably seek to disable us first."

"Wait, spell?" Julian's eyebrows drew together. "Like, magic?"

"Oh come on. I do it all the time." Megan's wings fluttered and she rolled her eyes. "Don't act like it's _news_ to you."

"No, just...nevermind." He closed his eyes. "Whatever. Looks like we're fucked either way, so let's pick our poison and get on with it."

"Heavens. Language, dear." Frost shook her head. "You have spent entirely too much time with Logan."

Julian gave her a flat look. "Air or ground?"

Frost's skin began to glitter as it hardened. "Ground."

Santo cracked his large stone knuckles. "Awesome."

* * *

"Where is Gwynn?" Illyana hissed. Her hand glowed orange, and her captive's wrist began to smoke.

"AHHH!" Hepzibah tried to twist away.

Her red eyes narrowed. " _Where is Gwynn?!"_

"I don't know!" She bared her teeth. "Let go of me!"

Illyana held her hand in place firmly. "No. Not until you tell me."

Laura could smell burnt flesh. She tugged again at her chains, but they were as strong and secure as the last time she had checked. She watched helplessly as her teammate began to whimper. The goat-woman ignored her cries, only tightening her grip. There was a wet snapping sound.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHGH!" Hepzibah's scream was piercing.

"Hmmm?" James was raising his head. He took one look at what was happening and began to fight against his bonds, gritting his teeth and glaring at Illyana, his eyes narrowing.

"WHERE IS GWYNN?" She was demanding again.

"I TOLD YOU!" Hepzibah choked this out in between sobs. "I don't KNOW!"

"Whatever." Illyana tossed something to the side. "I'll get back to you. Use the time to think about the virtues of telling the truth, skunk." She turned to see James glaring, and smiled. " _You_ seem to be taking something personally."

He gave her a steady look. "You're _dead._ "

"I don't think so." Illyana reached up and ran her still-glowing fingers across his cheek, causing the flesh to bubble. "I think _you_ are. Unless you happen to know where Gwynn is."

James said nothing, but his lip curled.

"The strong silent type." Illyana raised an eyebrow. "If I had one, that would be it. If I hadn't been kidnapped by a d _emon sorcerer_ when I was six years old, maybe." She hauled back her fist and plunged it straight into his ribcage.

"FUCK!" James exploded, his face twisting in pain.

Illyana's eyes narrowed. "I can kill you. Right now. _Tell me where Gwynn is._ "

"Wouldn't...tell you...'f it was the...only thing I knew." He paused, then made a noise and spat in her face.

Illyana's reaction was instant. She yanked her arm out of his torso and held up an organ. It was still moving. Beating. His heart.

"NO!" Hepzibah yelped this sharply. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL-"

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She looked at James, who was staring at the bloody mass, the life in his eyes fading.

"Let that be a lesson, X-men. I can end you all." Illyana tossed it on the floor and ground her hoof against it. " _Novis_. _"_

James let out a ragged gasp, the bloody hole in his torso sealing. Then he began to shake against his chains.

"She will not stop until she knows." Ruth said this in a small voice. "Limbs and hearts, excuse me, are just the beginning. Skin can always come off. We all fall down. I am sorry."

Laura felt a deep feeling of unease.

* * *

"THE GARGOYLES ARE COMING TOO!" Megan shrieked.

Julian gritted his teeth, in the middle of body-slamming a hellhound into the cobblestone courtyard, his arm wrapped around all three of its necks, because it had proved to be immune to his telekinesis, but not his metal hands. Meaning that he'd had to get them dirty quite a bit during this fight already. And now there were fucking gargoyles. Perfect. The hellhound whimpered and rolled away, one of its necks broken, and he wiped the sweat off his forehead as he looked toward where she was pointing. Or was it blood? Probably a mix of both. He'd been bitten a few times already. He hoped Josh had landed with Laura's group.

Frost, Santo, and Victor had also been fighting on the ground, the former pair in a similar fashion to Julian, the latter relying more on his speed and agility than strength. It did the trick though, since the hounds weren't especially bright. There were just a _lot_ of them. It felt like thirty or forty. Julian hadn't felt so overwhelmed by numbers in a long time, not since the fight against Kimura and the facility in Madripoor.

He squinted against the bright orange light of Limbo's sickly-looking sun, then he saw the gargoyles. A wave of them, gliding down toward the courtyard like a fleet of airplanes. Bombers. Except they didn't have-

"AHHGHH!" Victor screamed, as a fireball almost landed on him.

"Son of a bitch!" Julian shoved off the ground and shot up to meet the wave, hoping he could knock out at least a few of them if he smashed into them head-on, with his shield up. But the gargoyles had looked a lot, _lot_ smaller from the ground, he realized, as he hit one enormous shoulder with a fleshy _thunk!_ and bounced off, hardly even adjusting its course.

It was then that he realized the fireballs weren't coming from the gargoyles, but rather from the enormous fucking dragon that was swooping in behind them.

"God _damn_ it!" he shouted, in defeat, because the dragon was unhinging its jaw and he had too much momentum to stop in time.

* * *

"Lady Darkchilde!"

Illyana did not look at the pinkish creature that had scurried up to her on six legs. She was holding Ruth's chin tightly in one hand, drawing the finger of her other hand down her cheek, curls of skin rising up in its wake and leaving deep red welts. Her flesh was covered in a criss cross pattern already.

"Nnnnngh…." Ruth groaned.

"Telepath." Illyana shook her head. " _Precog._ You can _see_ all the pain I can cause you. _Will_ cause you. And yet...you insist on protecting Gwynn. Why?"

"Because she is our friend." Laura said this.

Illyana looked at her sharply.

"Lady D-darkchilde." The creature said this again, stammering.

Her eyes flashed red. " _WHAT?!"_ she hissed.

The creature bowed deeply. "We have Gwynn. She has been secured."

"..." Illyana turned to face it. "Why was I not informed _immediately?"_

It cringed. "I d-did try, my lor-I m-mean, my l-lady-"

 _SMACK!_ As Illyana backhanded the creature. It flew across the room and into a wall.

"BRING HER TO ME!" She shouted, her face contorted. "Her and anyone she was with! There must be _no_ risk of her escape!"

The creature managed to scrape itself back together, then bowed and left the room.

Illyana looked at Laura again. "Now. You were telling me all about how she is your _friend._ Why would you be willing to die for another being?"

Laura thought for a moment. "Because it is the right thing to do."

"Hah." The blond woman smiled slowly. " _Right_ and _wrong._ You're trying to tell me you understand these concepts?" She moved toward her, a curious tilt to her head. "Or are you just pretending to?"

Laura watched her, uncertain. Her nostrils were still full of the scents of burning flesh, bone, and blood, her ears full of the cries and groans of her friends. James hung limp in his shackles, exhausted from having his organs ripped from his torso over and over, Hepzibah was whimpering under her breath, her fur now covered in black, sticky goo, and Ruth was silent, her skin resembling a bloody grid. She did not feel she was the one who should be justifying her humanity.

Illyana reached her and stopped, gazing upward with her red eyes. Her lip curled. "In magic, the soul is the source of all power. The strongest spells are conjured from the most innocent and pure. The uncorrupt."

Laura gazed at her silently.

"Yours reeks of science. Synthetic. _Fake._ " Illyana leaned toward her. "And the little you had to begin with is so tainted, it's stained black. My soul was taken from me, when I was a child...and I'm _still_ purer than _you._ " She paused, her voice lowering to a whisper. "Filthy, filthy animal." Then she raised her hand and snapped her fingers.

* * *

Julian shook his head slightly. He was uncomfortable, his back pressed to something hard and unyielding. Like a stone slab. There were screams. Somewhere in the distance. He couldn't tell who, though. He couldn't see either. He tried to raise his chin from where it had been resting against his chest, and found his movement restricted by something on his head. Great. He was so sick of everyone trying to block his powers. But if experience had taught him anything, it was that most underestimated his hands. He made fists and pulled them away from the stone slab, breaking through the chains like a hot knife through butter.

"Jenkins!" a nearby voice snapped. "I _told_ you to-"

He pushed the large metal helmet, probably vibranium, off his head with his now-free hands. He had two options: attack with telekinesis, or telepathy. The hellhounds had been immune to his telekinesis, and his telepathy hadn't worked either, but he thought that might be because they didn't have humanoid minds. But that didn't seem like the case here.

"Nnngnnn!" The speaker, a purple, multi-armed creature that vaguely resembled a woman, was holding her head as she fell to her knees. A moment later and she was incapacitated, rolling onto her side, her large eyes sliding shut.

Julian reached down and broke the bindings around his ankles, then dropped to the ground and ran to the slab where Frost was bound, a similar metal helmet encasing her head. That just confirmed it. Illyana and her people had to be vulnerable to telepathy. Which was good for them, since they had two telepaths. Three, if they could find Ruth. He reached up and pulled Frost's helmet off, revealing that she was unconscious, her eyes tightly closed.

 _Wake up!_ He shouted at her.

Nothing.

 _We have to get out of here! Wake up, now._

Frost's eyes remained closed.

He reached up and slapped her.

"Dude!" Santo gasped. "Did you just-"

Frost's eyebrows drew together and she raised her head. "I-Julian? What are you doing here?" Pause. "Where is here?"

"Limbo, remember?" Julian began breaking her wrist bindings. "With all the hellhounds, gargoyles, and mother-fucking- _dragons_ , and where time literally flies, so excuse me if I don't feel like giving you all that long to get with it."

"..." Frost nodded and closed her eyes. "Illyana has Megan, several rooms over. We will need to gather the others, then free her."

"Great." Julian finished breaking her ankle bindings, then helped her down. "The demons, or whatever these things are, are completely weak to telepathy, so don't even bother punching them. The one in the corner went down like nothing." He pointed to the purple creature still lying on her side.

Frost raised an eyebrow. "I suppose the humanoids _would_ be telepathically vulnerable. Dr. Strange once informed me that anti-psionic sorcery takes a good deal of intricate and powerful spell work. Not likely that would be wasted on minions."

"Speaking of minions, you gonna bust me out or what?" Santo called.

Julian rolled his eyes, but headed toward his craggy friend, who looked somewhat comical, chained against a much smaller rock slab.

A few minutes later, they had regrouped, sans Megan, and Frost was leading them out into the hallway, clearing the path ahead. Julian focused on crippling the demons that chased after them. The humanoids he knocked out with a quick burst of psionic energy, but the creatures took longer, even with the help of the others. An incredibly fast, six-headed snake demon in particular almost kicked his ass and had him on his knees, head bowed and nose dripping blood on the stone floor, and if it hadn't been for Santo sneaking up behind it and clapping his enormous hands together, with the heads caught between, he probably would have wound up chained to a slab again.

"Th-thanks," he gasped when Santo offered to help him up.

His friend grinned. "Anytime."

Frost continued down the hallway, leading them towards a large arching doorway. Julian took a deeper breath, wiped his still-bleeding nose onto the sleeve of his t-shirt, then followed her in, as did Santo. Victor was the last one in.

They had entered a large chamber, full of slabs similar to the ones they had been chained to, and full of their friends. He could see James and Hepzibah, both of which were unconscious and bloodied, and a glass tube full of metal that he assumed was Cessily. It flashed every now and again with light. Electricity. His eyes narrowed. Illyana had been torturing them.

Next he saw Ruth, her helmet-covered head hanging low on her chest, her skin covered in deep red wounds, like a grid. Her lips were moving slightly, but she made no sound. She was speaking to herself. Chanting something under her breath.

Where was Laura? He saw an empty slab beside Ruth's. Did Illyana have her?

 _POP!_

A woman had appeared in the center of the room. She was a strange creature, with a human upper body, a long, thin tail, and the legs of what seemed like a goat. Horns rose out of her forehead and curled back against her pale blond hair. She surveyed them with glowing red eyes. Then she reached out, and a wave of force swept them all off their feet and into the surrounding walls.

"Illyana!" Frost shouted. "This is not you! You are-"

"You of all people giving _me_ advice! _Villainess!_ " Illyana hissed this. "Be _quiet_ and stop wasting my time. I have Gwynn now. I don't need the rest of you...but if you _push_ me-"

Julian struggled against her hold, but his attempts had no effect whatsoever. He glared at her, starting to get seriously annoyed. Magic was almost as bad as time travel. This was-his eyes caught something behind her, a glint, the light of his powers reflecting off something metallic. In a pile of dust on the ground. There were more metal things in it. Then he realized what he was looking at.

* * *

 _Julian! STOP!_

Frost's voice came from far away, even though she was speaking in his mind. He paused, distracted. She sounded disturbed. Alarmed. He wondered why, for a moment, and then he realized that it probably had something to do with the fact that he had his hands on Illyana's throat, and she was making tiny wheezing noises, on her knees, blood rolling out of the corners of her mouth. He gritted his teeth. _Good._ His grip tightened further.

 _She may be able to reverse it. But only if you stop, now._ Frost's voice was deathly serious, as serious as it had been that time she had warned him about choosing his path. His eyebrows drew together. Reverse it? Then he remembered why he was trying to kill Illyana in the first place. Which only made him want to kill her _more,_ but Frost's words lingered. And he had become aware of people shouting his name. Santo. Victor. James, too. His hands slowly relented, even though he had made already made the decision to listen.

"...kkttt…" Illyana crumpled to the floor, her eyes sliding half closed.

He pointed at the ash pile. "Bring her back."

"...I...what?" Her voice was raspy.

Julian grabbed her arm and dragged her to the pile. "Undo it. Now."

"..." Illyana wobbled slightly. "N-no, I-"

He twisted her arm, hard. " _NOW!"_

"Ahhgh!" She reached out her hand. " _N-nov-v-is_."

The metal and ashes swirled together and upwards, forming a cloud, then solidifying into a human figure, and then-finally-Laura. She made a high pitched noise and turned as if to run, but he reached out and pulled her toward him with his mind, wrapping his arms around her. "No, it's okay, you're-"

She was shaking all over, like a leaf caught in the wind. "...dark...it was d-dark…"

"Shhh." He rubbed her back, trying to reassure himself that she was alive again. Then he looked at Illyana again, still kneeling on the floor, and his eyes narrowed. "Let everyone go, and send us back. We're done here."

"I can't." Her eyebrows drew together. "I need-I need Gwynn's soulstones." Her tone was different, and her eyes were dimmer. Almost clear of the red color. "Limbo...Belasco's daughter is trying to seize control of it. Witchfire. She stole the Bloodstone amulet. If she attacks...and succeeds...she will be all-powerful."

"Why didn't you _ask_ for our help?" Frost asked. She was surveying Illyana with folded arms, eyebrows raised.

"..." Illyana closed her eyes, bowed her head. "I...my soul...when I had the amulet...I was able to control myself...but…" her eyebrows drew together. "I... _we..._ must get it back." Her voice was firmer now.

Julian's lip curled. "I have no intention of helping you do anything."

"You must." Illyana rose to her feet, her tail flicking. "If she conquers Limbo, next she will lead armies of demons against Earth."

"..." Santo frowned. "Shit, that sounds _bad._ "

"Y' _think?!"_ Victor rubbed his face with his palms. "God, I swear, twenty years later and you're still as dumb as a rock."

"Hey!" Santo glared at him. "First of all, it was _two_ years for me, and _second,_ that's real mean, Vic! I actually got diagonallized by Beast while you were gone, and he said I have a problem that _makes_ me forget shit."

"Yeah right!" Victor gritted his teeth. "Wait a minute, did you just say _diagonallized?_ "

"Yeah, you know, when the doc looks at you then tells you what's broke."

"The word is diagnosed, dear." Frost's tone was flat.

"..." Julian closed his eyes, but opened them a moment later at a touch on his arm.

"Illyana is telling the truth." Laura's eyebrows were drawn together. "We need to help her."

His lip curled again. "She _tortured_ you."

"I have been tortured before." Laura paused. "But the girls...I cannot let these things happen to them. Witchfire must be stopped."

Julian gazed at her for a moment, then nodded slightly. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Hey, not to be rude or anything, but you mind letting us go?" James called.

He started, having forgotten about them momentarily, but Illyana was already raising her hand and mumbling words under her breath. James, Hepzibah, and Ruth all fell to the ground, and then Cessily's container opened.

"AAAAHHHGHHH!" she screamed as she burst out of the tube and began to roll on the floor. Santo dropped to his knees beside her and patted her on the back, grimacing. "You're good, right, Cess? Look, you're out now!"

Cessily glared at him from between strands of her disheveled red hair. "Shuddup."

* * *

"Witchfire is in the cavern system, to the east of the citadel." Illyana was pointing at a map she had etched into the floor with some sort of spell, several minutes later. She had already healed James, Hepzibah, and Ruth with another _Novis_ spell, and had also healed the damage the others had sustained from fighting. Now she was describing their battle plan. "Alone, without the amulet, I am not strong enough to confront her. With your help...perhaps."

"With _my_ soul dagger, you mean." Megan sounded skeptical.

"Yes, that is what I mean." Illyana paused, and looked at Julian. "You as well."

He shrugged. "I can't do shit against magic."

"Not you." She looked down at his hands. "Those. They are...powerful artifacts." She looked at Santo and Cessily. "And you two. You have some immunity to spells. Witchfire does not know to use electricity."

Cessily glared at her. "You didn't even say sorry _._ I don't want to work with you until you apologize for _torturing me for hours._ "

"Hey, I was a _lizard_ for _twenty years_ and you don't see me whining!" Victor snapped.

"You whine literally all the time, Vic!" Santo snapped back at him. "Dude, this is getting so old! Drop it already!"

"..." Victor's eyes bulged.

"Guys." Julian glared at them. "I can't believe it, but you're managing to make my experience in an actual hell dimension _worse._ Save it for when we're back at home and you're not slowing everyone down, got it?"

"Yeah." Santo frowned. "Sorry, Jules."

"That goes for _everyone._ " Julian looked at Cessily, then at Hepzibah and James. "No apologies. I don't give a shit what beefs we have with Illyana-I personally still want to kill her-but she is _not_ the target here. Witchfire is. So focus."

"Yes." Frost's voice was firm. "There is time for quarreling later."

"Fine." Cessily folded her arms. "But I don't have to _like_ it."

Hepzibah's tail flicked, but she said nothing.

Julian looked at Laura, who was standing with her arms folded tightly against herself. "Eastern caverns then?"

She nodded, her eyebrows drawn together.

He sensed that she had been thinking about something else, but knew now wasn't the time to ask her about it, especially after he had just lectured the others about staying focused. He looked at Megan. "We're ready. Teleport us."

Illyana shook her head. "I'll do it. I know where she is." As she spoke, a blue disc of light appeared beneath their feet.

 _POP!_

* * *

"Seize them!" a woman's voice shouted, almost in the same moment as they re-materialized. Julian barely had time to get his bearings before a wave of demons was heading his way. They were now in a large cave, with huge stalactites and stalagmites on either side. Deep, probably underground, judging from the way the ground sloped under his feet. He raised a shield around the others, even though he knew it would do little good in this situation.

Beside him, Frost was shifting into diamond form, and on his other side, Laura crouched and popped her claws with a sharp _Snkkt!_

They charged forward, at the same time as a wave of demons, meeting them head-on. Julian found himself wrestling another six-headed snake creature, wracking his mind for how he'd defeated it the first time, but then a set of adamantium blades solved his problem, lopping off four of the heads in one fluid sweep. He had no trouble finishing it off with his own metal hands. But almost as soon as it crumpled to the ground, he was presented with a new opponent, this one enormous. A green, lumpy-skinned giant. Swinging a large, thorny club at his head. He ducked. And watched in horror as the end caught Santo in the back.

"NO!" he shouted out of reflex, watching his friend explode into pebbles. He began to reach out, to help him reform, but Santo was already doing just that. Glowing lines criss-crossed his new body, like liquid magma.

"YEAH!" Santo shouted. "I forgot, Limbo rocks are way cool! Now I'm-"

A blast of orange light interrupted him. One of Witchfire's attacks had missed and come his way. Julian started, expecting Santo to explode again, but his friend remained standing in place.

"Heh! That tickles." He folded his big glowing arms. "Do your worst, lady! I'm _immune_ to magic now. Practically invuncible."

" _So_ close." Cessily said this as she swept past him, snaking around a demon that reminded Julian of a centipede. "I really think you'll get it right someday."

"God dammit." Santo grabbed the centipede out from her coils and slammed it into the crowd that the others were fighting off, using it in a manner similar to the club that had broken him earlier. He then threw it at the giant's face. "How you like that, buddy, huh?"

Something grabbed Julian from behind. Something with multiple hands. He struggled for a moment before remembering that he should use telepathy against humanoids, but before he could do anything, it jerked and released him. He turned around to see that Frost had punched a hole through its chest with her diamond fist, sending green slime everywhere, including across her face. She wrinkled her nose. "Goodness. That was rather more violent than I intended."

Julian grinned at her. "Try ripping out the heart next time."

She stared at him, but a moment later was distracted.

"This ends NOW!" Illyana screamed this as she lunged at a woman roughly in the middle of the cave. He hadn't gotten a good look at her before, his line of sight blocked by a tangled mess of demons, but now saw that she had very pale skin and dull orange hair, a little less vibrant than Cessily's. Red energy crackled all around her. He guessed that this was Witchfire.

Her lip curled as she considered her oncoming opponent. "I don't think so."

A red shield appeared around her as Illyana brought down her sword toward her head. The weapon bounced off, and she almost lost her hold on its hilt.

"Without your soulsword, you're _powerless._ " Witchfire raised her hand, and Illyana rose into the air, grabbing at her throat and making choking noises, her goat legs kicking like crazy. Her eyes were bulging. She was clearly overwhelmed.

"Kill you, or finish the amulet? Decisions, decisions." Witchfire grinned. "Just kidding. There's no _question_ what I'm going to do to you."

"We need to-" Laura began, to Julian, but Megan had beat them to it.

"NNYYEEAARRRGHH!" she screamed as she brought down her soul dagger. It passed through Witchfire's shield like it wasn't there, and lodged itself in her back.

"HYYURKK-" the woman's eyes flashed, red, and then, suddenly, it was over, as quickly as it had all began. She stumbled forward and collapsed on the ground, spread eagle, the smoking soul dagger sticking out from between her shoulder blades, along with a slowly spreading stain of what Julian assumed was blood. It must be corrupted or something, because it didn't look right. It was black and thick, and sizzling, like hot tar. There was a _tink!_ as something shiny tumbled out of one of her hands.

Illyana dropped to the ground, on her knees, gasping. She hunched on the floor, closing her eyes and breathing through her nose.

And then all the demons around her stopped fighting.

"Uh." Santo paused to scratch his head, as the giant, who he had been trading blows with, ceased moving. He glanced at Julian. "Do I keep goin', or…?"

Julian shrugged. Which was essentially the theme of Limbo for him.

"Seems pointless." Victor shrugged. "Why fight something that isn't fighting you back-"

"AHAHA!" Hepzibah screeched this, raking her claws across the face of the six-armed demon she had been fighting, which was now standing motionless. "Take that! TAKE _THAT!_ "

"Hep-" James grabbed her wrist. "Calm down."

"But it dared to stab me with its inferior grade 4 hell metal!" Hepzibah pointed to a small bleeding scratch on her arm. "See? The blade is not even _poisoned._ In the _Tryl'sart_ pocket hell dimension, the wound would be bubbling and oozing puss in mere _seconds_ -"

"Is she seriously complaining that her wound isn't _bad_ enough?" Cessily interrupted.

James paused. "Uh. Think so."

Megan yanked her soul dagger out of Witchfire's back, rather violently. Her eyes were black and smoking. But a moment later the dagger was gone, reabsorbed, and she was looking at the body, her eyebrows drawn together and her mouth set in a line.

Illyana got to her cloven feet. She looked around, then spotted what Megan was staring at and walked toward her, holding out her hand. The shiny thing that had fallen to the ground when Witchfire died rose into the air and soared towards her. She caught the disc and curled her fingers around its edges. "Finally."

The moment it touched her palm, all the demons around her sank to their knees and bowed their heads. She paid them no heed, flipping the amulet open and reaching into it with her other hand. There was a brilliant flash of blue and golden light, then Illyana pulled out a long, glowing blue sword. A smile spread slowly across her features. She grasped the sword with both hands, then stabbed herself in the stomach, her eyebrows drawing together as if she was in pain. But it passed as quickly as it had begun. After a short while, she straightened, and looked at Frost. "It is done. Limbo is safe now. Thank you."

"Good." Frost wiped some green slime off her cheek, the glitter fading from her skin as she shifted back into her human form. "I was growing rather tired of the regular kidnappings. Perhaps now I can finally wear that new Versace jacket that I-"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone started, alarmed by the blood-curdling scream.

"SPI...SPI...SPIIII..." Victor babbled this in an extremely high pitched squeak, pointing at a small eight-legged arachnoid demon with a shaking finger. "SPIDER!"

" _Dude._ " Santo shook his head. "I thought something was actually wrong."

"..." Victor seemed to struggle for a moment. "SPIDER! BIG! LEAVE! NOW!"

"Stop bein' such a wussy." Santo reached out and picked up the spider, which didn't do anything. "He's friendly, see?"

"GET IT AWAY FROM ME!" Victor stumbled backward andran behind Frost, whimpering.

Cessily closed her eyes. "Can we _please_ go now?"

"Yes. I can teleport you." Illyana looked around the group, then paused, her eyebrows drawing together as she glanced at Laura. For a moment she hesitated, then she took a few steps forward so she was looking her in the eye. "I...apologize for what I said. Earlier. I wasn't myself." Her voice was softer than before.

Laura said nothing, but she looked down.

Julian glanced at her. "What'd she say?"

She shook her head.

"So bright." Ruth murmured this as she rejoined the group, having sat on the sidelines for most of the fight. "White. White hot room? No. No. Hard to tell. So much smoke. You'll see each other soon, sisters. But we'll all see soon, won't we? I can barely stand to look. Blinding."

Everyone turned to look at her, even several of the demons.

Santo cleared his throat. "Uh, ain't you already blind? Like, not to be mean, but your name is Blindfold and everythin'." He paused. "And...you don't have _eyes_."

Ruth acted as if she had not heard him. Her forehead was wrinkled.

"Okay, I think we'd like that teleport now." Julian put his arm around Laura's shoulders. "Every second we stay here, we risk years passing back on Earth. I'm behind enough on homework as is."

"The wedding!" Hepzibah yelped this. "What if we missed it?!"

James glanced at her. "Don't think that's possible."

She scowled. "Yes it is! I have been arranging for everything to happen on a certain Earth-date and I will be furious if it has happened without me!"

"Again, not possible." He paused. "Weddings don't happen if the people getting married aren't there."

"That's absurd." Hepzibah's tail flicked. "On _my_ planet, an agreement to form a union is a binding contract and proceeds regardless of who is present."

"..." Cessily's eyes bulged. "Glad we don't live on _your_ planet, jeez."

"Oh, Cessily. I had forgotten about you." Hepzibah glanced at her, then Laura. "You are both to be my bridesmaids."

"Wait, what?" Cessily's forehead wrinkled. "You can't just-"

Hepzibah waved her hand. "I have already ordered the equipment. It is done."

Julian's eyebrows drew together. He wondered how many times James was going to hear that in the future. Then he remembered what Laura had told him about the litter, and remembered that he needed to let him know. Sooner rather than later. He cleared his throat and looked at Illyana. "We're ready to go. Do it."

She raised her hands. "You do not need to worry. I will take you back to the exact time and place that I took you from." As she spoke, blue discs were appearing beneath their feet. And then...

* * *

 _POP!_

"Goodness." Frost surveyed the meeting room, which had just re-appeared around them. The paintings had been ripped off the walls by the earlier Limbo portal, and the table and chairs were now gone. She sighed. "The meeting is cancelled. I need a drink, and a bath to wash away the slime. We shall reconvene tomorrow, in the morning."

"Yep." Julian cleared his throat. "Uh, Laura...I'll be home in a bit. James, you got a sec?"

His friend look puzzled, but shrugged. "Sure."

Laura nodded at him. A few minutes later, she and the others had left, and Julian was still trying to figure out how to make this less awkward. He finally gave up. "There's no easy way to put this...just...uh...your fiance has some plans to-"

James held up his hand. "Don't worry, I'm on it."

"..." Julian folded his arms. "You sure?" he asked, his tone skeptical.

"Hep is pretty crafty if you haven't noticed." James grinned. "What she doesn't know is I read her log book."

Julian's eyebrows drew together. "You read her diary?"

"No, her log book. She has a book where she writes down all her schemes." James paused. "She, uh, might have kind of been bad when I met her. But she gave it up." Another pause. "Mostly 'coz her shit kept going wrong, for some weird reason." He grinned. "I like to think I'm having a good influence on her."

"..." Julian raised an eyebrow. "You sure she isn't going to double cross us at some point?"

"Doubt it." James shrugged. "And to be honest, if she does, it'll probably end up helping us out somehow. She was like the B-list movie version of a villain on her best days." He paused. "Seriously, though...she has a good heart. She likes you guys."

"As long as you're keeping an eye on her, I guess." Julian shifted. "So, just to be clear, you know about her plans for, um, the litter, right?"

He grinned. "It appeared as a two-page spread in the log book like a month ago. Had plenty of time to get the jump on it "

"Okay then." Julian paused. "All I can say is...good luck man."

"Thanks." James raised his eyebrows. "You too. Laura seems like a handful."

Julian shrugged. "Not anymore. She's actually the least crazy thing in my life."

"Yeah, I get that." James paused. "Beer?"

Julian considered this. "Sure."

* * *

When he got home, Laura was lying on the bed, in the dark, gazing at the ceiling. He couldn't see any blood, but somehow he knew she had been cutting. He leaned on the frame. "Went out for a drink, and we ran into Josh at the bar. Apparently, the portal missed him and he spent the whole night getting _wasted_ while we were off fighting demons in hell, can you believe it?"

Laura said nothing.

His eyebrows drew together. "You okay?"

"Fine." She said this dismissively.

He hesitated. "You sure?"

Pause. "Yes."

He frowned. "I'm not convinced."

She said nothing.

He looked down, his eyebrows drawing together. "You promised you'd talk to me. What's wrong?" This was the second time in a short while that he'd had to press her to open up. She had been doing so well, and then...

She closed her eyes, and her lip curled slightly. "I do not want to talk about this."

His lip curled. "Laura. What did I say about you not cutting me out of your life again?"

She sighed, a noise full of exasperation, then she rolled onto her side and looked up at him. "That you...would not tolerate it again."

"Mhmm." He folded his arms. "So. What's it going to be?"

Laura closed her eyes, silent, weighing this. Then she lowered her face. "Illyana said...that my 'soul' is 'fake' and 'reeks of science.' And...that...it is...tainted." She hesitated again, clearly struggling with something. "She also said...that I...that I am a filthy _animal._ " Her lip curled on the last word. It was clearly the part that distressed her most. After a moment, she opened her eyes and looked up at him again. "Is that sufficient?"

Julian stared at her. "What? She _said_ that to you?"

"Yes." She arched an eyebrow. "She also killed me."

"Well...yeah." He paused, feeling vaguely stupid. He had kind of blocked that out of his mind. The horrible moment where he realized Laura was gone. Then he refocused. "You don't _believe_ her, though...right?"

"Why would I _not_ believe her?" Laura's tone was stiff. "She was not lying. Her description was accurate."

"She's a soulless demonic goat. She was trying to hurt you."

Laura said nothing, but it was clear she didn't agree.

"Just...don't believe her. Whatever she said was bullshit." He stepped into the room, then sank down in front of her. "I've never met anyone like you. Most people...the place you came from...it would have made them a monster." He paused. "It made _me_ a monster. For a while."

Laura flinched.

"No, I…" he closed his eyes, frustrated. "Look. I'm not explaining this well. I just-I need you to get how special you are. That you _are_ who you _are_. You taught _yourself_ how to be human. I think it means you're more _real_ than everyone else." He looked at her again.

She frowned. "And the girls?" Her eyes looked slightly damp. He suspected this was her real fear. The thought that if she was not real, then neither were they.

He thought of the things he'd seen in their heads, when he had to scan them in Murderworld. Even the thought of Alice's crazy wonderland of a brain made him wince in pain. He grinned slightly. "Believe me. They're a hundred percent real." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Promise me you won't let Illyana get to you anymore, okay?"

"I...will try." She frowned. "But I do not know if I can."

"You can." He reached up and ran his metal fingers through her hair. "You can do anything." Pause. "Except cook."

Laura gave him a flat look, then shoved him.

He grinned. "It's okay. I love you anyways."

She smiled back, slightly. "Good."

A moment passed, then he leaned forward and kissed her, hard, his hands burying themselves deeper in her hair. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and soon he had joined her on the bed. Neither spoke again for a while.


End file.
